Art Imitating Life
by tonks1
Summary: A teenage Han tells the story of his entry into the steet racing scene. This chronicles Han's time with Dom, Letty, Vince, and Mia and explains why Han valued the car he called his 'Mona Lisa'. Han/OC
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I do not own any of characters or situations portrayed by The Fast and The Furious. I am not making any money from this work.

* * *

Orange. She was wearing orange. I don't think I would have truly noticed her if she hadn't worn that orange dress. I hate the color orange. Don't get me wrong, I love a tall glass of orange juice and I enjoy eating oranges. I just can't stand the color. So when I drink the juice, I just pretend I don't notice the color. Overlook the undesirable aspects in order to enjoy the more enjoyable parts.

In a way, I think it was good that she was wearing the deep orange colored dress. The fact that the color turned me off forced me to find a different place to look while she talked. So of course I checked out her legs. Nice legs. Not stick skinny but toned. I made the mistake of looking back up, damn that orange dress again. Quickly I looked up and that's when I noticed her face. If I had to define the moment, it would be one where the music goes slow, you can hear the pounding of your heart and know that it's picking up speed, and there would be a fade away where nothing existed except you and the other person.

There was inky shoulder length black hair, dark brown eyes, a set of full lips that were turned down in the corners as she worked it a mile a minute talking about the yearbook. She's pretty, but not remarkable. But in that moment I knew I wanted to get to know her better. Decisively, I tuned back into the conversation she was having with my lunch companions.

"I really wish you would just make an appointment with me so I can take your picture for yearbook."

"Look I'm not interested…" Vince replied, his voice taking on an edge but she cut him off.

"You're the only one without their picture and I want to boast one hundred percent participation this year."

"I'm not doing it," Vince retorted, the edge getting sharper.

"If you don't make an appointment, then I'll be forced to take it while you're unawares. You won't like it," she said, voice getting lower with a hint of steel behind it. Damn. I thought she would back down.

"I'd like to see you try cutie." Apparently so did Vince. That's why the quick camera flash caught us so unawares. Before either of us could figure out what was going on, she had already stalked away.

"Damn," Dom drawled causing him and me to burst out laughing. Vince grimaced as if caught between shock, awe, and anger.

"Shut up, Dom!" Vince had settled on anger. Trying to avoid a blow up, I curbed my laughter into a broad grin and changed the subject to the latest issue of _Import Tuner_. Conversation turned to cars and I took a chance to look around. Three tables down I saw her orange dress again. Carefully I gave her a sideway glance to watch her interact with her friends, her smile causing me to grin again. In that moment I knew that I wanted to date her, orange dress or not.


	2. Chapter 2

Two days and one discussion with Hector later, I knew her name. Daphne. One of Hector's various cousins, I think Carmen, chilled with her. Daphne, junior, sixteen year old Daphne. Photographer for the yearbook, in charge of making sure everyone and every club at school had a picture. Straight-A, perfect attendance, permit carrying Daphne.

Finding out that information had been easy. It should have been as much of a turn off as the orange dress had been, but then I remembered the way she laughed and knew there had to be more to her than that. So here I was on Thursday not paying attention in fourth period History, wondering why I hadn't noticed her before. We were in the same grade even if I was a year older. I should have run into her before Monday in the quad at lunch but I noticed that while I was actively looking out for her now, she was suspiciously absent from every hallway and classroom I seemed to inhabit over the course of the day. Maybe I should switch up the way that I get from class to class.

The bell rang. I gathered my notebook and shuffled out into the hall teeming with students, taking the long way back to my locker but I didn't see her. Walking into the quad, my feet immediately took me to our usual table. Dom was already there; his arm draped around some girl with blond hair, idly touching her in ways I knew would have her on Dom's sexual scorecard later this afternoon. Vince was there too, eating his lunch as if it was water to a man in the desert. Vince loved to eat. I sat next to Vince, facing Dom and began to eat my lunch, letting my eyes roam idly over the others filling in the tables close to ours.

"Hey guys," a soft voice I recognized said causing me to look up. Mia had taken the seat next to Dom and I hadn't noticed. I knew however that where she was her best friend Letty wasn't far behind. Sure enough, a moment later Letty was sliding into the seat next to mine, giving me and Vince head nods before taking a vested interest in her lunch. I smiled and Mia rolled her eyes. We both knew that Letty had a crush on Dom and she would not be pleased that Dom was putting his attention elsewhere.

"So Han man, you almost finished with the new mods?" Letty asked me. Cars, I grinned, damn she was something else. When I met Letty three years ago she had been all about cars then too. We all were. Some things don't change. But at fifteen, she had started to see something not only in cars but in Dom too. It was like a switch had been flipped on, turning tomboy-Letty into someone I couldn't classify. She still dressed like a tomboy but I had noticed that she was taking care with her appearance to remind us, well more like remind Dom, that she was a girl too.

"Yeah. I'm adding the new exhaust and then I'll be done," I replied, noticing that while her face had been towards mine, she had been sneaking glances at Dom and the blond girl. I could tell that Letty was working to keep her face impassive but her eyes were beginning to fill with fire.

"What about you? You finish up that project for Mr. Toretto?"

"Nah man," damn she still hadn't looked away. How she could keep her head in the conversation and her eyes on the foreplay happening across the table, I would never understand. "I've got to go work on it today." Her face was fast losing the mask of indifference; the corners of her mouth began to curl into a snarl.

"Hey Let, Han, V," Mia addressed each of us in turn. Mia was like that, a fifteen year old mother hen that saw and understood what we each needed and kept our tempers in check. This isn't to say that Mia didn't have a temper. All Toretto's have tempers. But Mia was a princess: charming, girly, and able to control her temper better than the men in her family. Yet, her fetish for looking and acting feminine didn't hide the fact that she enjoyed cars too. She didn't work on them the way the rest of us did. She just drove and understood our obsession. And she mothered us.

"Are any of you coming for dinner tonight?" Way to go diplomat Mia. She always knew how to diffuse a situation. Letty was forced to look at Mia instead of Dom to answer.

"Yeah girl, I'll be there," Letty said, less of an edge in her voice. Vince and I nodded yes. Mia didn't ask Dom or the blond girl. Since dinner would be at the Toretto's and their father expected them to eat dinner together, we knew that Dom would be there. But I also knew that Mia's omission of the blond girl was both deliberate and understood by every member of the table. If Mia didn't ask you, you weren't invited. The blond was not allowed to sit in on family time. That's why Mia was a princess. With one inquiry she had diplomatically and effectively shut out the interloper, reminded Letty how important she was to our little family, and diffused a volatile temper. Plus, she had made Vince really happy with the promise of a home cooked meal. Hey, I wasn't joking when I said he liked to eat.


	3. Chapter 3

The weekend passed in a blur. We did some of the normal, enjoyed some of the new, and inadvertently began to write ourselves a ticket to our future. Working at the garage with Mr. Toretto both teaching and supervising our mechanical skills was par for the course for Dom, Vince, Letty, and me. We were there almost every day, tuning his car, tuning our cars, talking cars, helping with other's cars.

Some weekends Mr. Toretto would race and we would go, Mia included, and chill with the crew at the track before going up to the stands and watching him rocket around the track. This weekend was one of these race ones, normal because it was a part of our routine, but never losing the luster of fun and excitement. We had invited Hector to come with us, and he had enjoyed himself immensely, cheering with us as Dom's and Mia's dad took second place. Afterwards, we went to the Toretto house, Dom and Mr. Toretto manning the grill, Mia handling all the sides, and the rest of us making noise, having fun.

It was while we were helping Mia clear up some of the debris from dinner that Hector casually mentioned that Dom, Vince, and I should take a ride out to see the types of races and cars that he was used to. And that's how we ended up at a deserted parking lot not too far from Echo Park, overwhelmed by the new cars and people. Cars in all different colors, shapes, and what we would later see: performance specs. Four guys decided that they wanted to race one another, and the party moved from that parking lot to a street in LA. As soon as it was clear that the police were occupied elsewhere, the racers set off, quickly crossing the quarter mile. But in those 11 seconds, the race was won, and the winner walked away three grand richer than he'd been at the beginning of the night.

Sunday afternoon once the Toretto's returned from church Dom, Vince and I began to work on our cars, excited about what we had seen the night before and eager to belong to that scene. After dinner, we begged Mr. Toretto to take us to the track so we could each test our cars, racing against each other for the fun of it. We learned, after each of us took our turn racing Mr. Toretto that we needed to work on more than just our cars. The driving would need nurturing too. As I closed my eyes Sunday night, I knew that we had written that ticket for our future. It was as if we had boarded a fast moving train. I could hear the conductor as I drifted off to sleep saying, "Stand clear of the closing doors please. Next stop, top of the street racing scene!"


	4. Chapter 4

Three weeks later I still hadn't caught a glimpse of Daphne. Yeah, I still thought about her from time to time. It happened at odd instances, for example, the space between finding the monkey wrench, or washing the grease from my hands with orange clean, or right before one of the girls and the races drops her hands to get the racers off the line. This wasn't to say that just because I was thinking about her more often that I wasn't spending an insane amount of time working on cars, obsessing about cars, and going to races. She was more like random punctuation, an exclamation point that would show up unexpectedly and excite me unnecessarily.

It was right after eighth period. School was over and I was at my locker shoving in my notebook and I thought about how she looked when she laughed in the space between closing my locker and turning to leave. And that's when I saw her, walking down the hall, a huge orange bag slung over her shoulder. Damn. I hate that color. Seizing the opportunity, I fell into step beside her. She smiled at me.

"Han, right?"

"Yeah, and you're Daphne," I said keeping it light.

"Yeah," she grinned at me, "so is your buddy Vincent still steamed about the picture thing?"

"Nah, but that was a gutsy move getting him like that," I grinned back, the thought making me want to laugh hysterically.

"Well that's how he wanted it. So where are you headed?" she asked, giving a nod to the keys in my hand.

"To work on my car." Daphne tilted her head to the right and gave me a look.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Huh?"

"What. Is. Wrong. With. Your. Car.?" she said slower, the words more pronounced. I grinned and so did she. I could tell she was joking with me.

"Nothing major, just has a timing issue," she straightened her head and raised an eyebrow.

"Timing issue?" I knew that she wasn't confused. She may not know much about cars but she knew that I was glossing over what I was doing. I wasn't going to tell her that I was trying to get my system to a place where I could go fast enough to win illegal street races. I grinned at her, daring her to ask me to elaborate. As we made it to the parking lot, we saw my car sitting in the parking lot, Dom and Vince sitting on the hood, pissed. I forgot that I drove us to school this morning. Daphne laughed at me. "A timing issue," she repeated followed by more laughter, "you got that right."

I left her there, walked to the car and got in, the guys sliding off the hood to join me. I turned the car over, drove out of the lot and I swear she didn't leave that spot until I left. I could feel her laughter follow us all the way home. I got picked on a lot at dinner that night.


	5. Chapter 5

Winter break was coming. Dom, Vince, and I were still on that train to street racing heaven. We'd worked and reworked our cars until the only thing keeping us back was our driving. That's where things got tricky. How do you go about learning how to drive at supersonic speeds without arousing suspicion about why you're doing it? Thankfully Mr. Toretto, pro race car driver, provided us with spare track time. We could, under the guise of having fun and hero worshiping Mr. T, come to the track and after he was finished practicing, do a few laps and runs, test out our latest mods, and get tips on how to start the race, how to finish, and how to make sure no one would have to scrape us off the pavement.

I was seeing improvement in my driving and if I timed it just right, I saw that I was able to beat Dom who seemed to soak up every bit of driving knowledge and skill like he was getting paid to do it. Dom truly was a natural at driving but his emotions tended to get in the way of his shifting. Not that this made him any less of a challenge to beat, but it tended to give anyone up against him a slight edge if they exploited his less that precise driving. Later on, as he was becoming King of the Streets, some racers would try to get one over on Dom by goading him to anger right before the start of a race. The practice wouldn't last long after one guy not only got his ass handed to him on the blacktop, but after the race Dom displaced his nose as a parting gift.

Vince, however, drove like he was exorcising his demons. If we weren't friends, I would be scared of him. He constantly looked like he was ready to throw a punch and had been known to get into his share of fights. I knew that Vince was no boy scout. Dom had known Vince since third grade and could vouch for Vince's loyalty and friendship. Yet friendship didn't cloud the fact that Vince had done some things and knew people that even Dom didn't want to know about. It was these demons that I could have sworn Vince was trying to outrun when he drove. These demons didn't discourage a young boy from spending time with some of the devil's best friends. And thanks to his mom, Vince knew that he couldn't hang out with that crowd and not get sucked into hell eventually. His friendship with Dom helped, but I knew that the driving was helping him resist the lure of those demons.

So the trick to racing Vince and winning was to manipulate when he saw those demons. Vince running from demons was dangerous and difficult to beat. Vince thinking that he was running towards those demons at the end of the quarter mile usually made him more cautious and slightly easier to beat. Later on guys would try psyching Vince out too, but usually they ended up getting their ribs broken before the race began.

My driving was passable enough to stay in the group but I lacked anything more than a desire to win for the perks. Sure, winning was all good and the money was a happy addition to my pocket. However, I seemed to crave the female attention that came with the winners circle. And that was my weakness. If I got caught up in the ending, I'd usually mess up my shifting which led to defeat. Vince figured out after a few weeks that any mention of Daphne usually messed up my timing enough to give him an edge. Thankfully we are friends and he only used it on the track during practices. I don't think I could have lasted long against him in a fist fight.


	6. Chapter 6

School term started back in January and I was determined to talk to Daphne again. Annoyingly enough she was as elusive as ever, missing from any hall or classroom I happened to be in at the time. I remained alert and vigilant, the reward coming as I headed to lunch a few days later. Daphne literally bumped into me as I rounded the corner to the quad. As I had planted my feet immediately upon contact, Daphne bounced off me and landed on her behind, some of the contents of her big orange bag spilling out into the hallway.

"Woah, you have to work on that timing issue of yours," Daphne drawled dryly, looking up at me with those dark brown eyes, her full lips turned down in the corners.

I extended my hand to help her up, and then quickly bent down to pick up the notebook and pens that had sprung free of that awful colored bag. It was as I began to rise that I noticed that I was very close to Daphne's legs. She was wearing orange leggings which rose into a mid-thigh navy blue dress. When I was fully standing, I noticed her long hair was loose around her shoulders, the curls laying enticingly near her breasts.

"Ahem," Daphne coughed, catching the way my eyes had lingered on her chest. "Thanks for helping me up," she said, taking the notebook and pens from me and placing them in her bag. She tilted her head for a moment, raised her right eyebrow and turned to walk away.

"Hey Daphne," I called out, quickly trying to salvage the situation. She turned again to face me and I walked toward her. "Have you ever been to a race?" She tilted her head again.

"No."

"Are you interested in going to one with me?"

She smiled slightly then nodded yes. I smiled back. We turned to enter the quad together. "So I'll pick you up Saturday at eight in the morning ok?"

"Why so early?" She said it in a way that was curious, not disgusted at the earliness of the time.

"Well we usually go to the races early to set up and spend time with Mr. Toretto's crew before the races begin," I told her, making my way towards my usual seat in the quad. She stopped walking.

"Ok. I will see you Saturday morning then," Daphne confirmed, turning to greet friends at a table three rows down from us. She took out her notebook, scribbled her address and phone number on a piece of paper, then ripped it out and handed it to me. With one last smile, she left for her normal spot in the quad. I moved to the table with Vince, Mia, Letty, Dom, and Dom's flavor of the day.

"Did you finally get her number?" Mia smirked. Did everyone know how I felt about Daphne? I gave Mia a cocky look.

"I think he got more than her number," Letty stated, a grin on her face. She loved teasing people. I handed her the slip of paper. She whistled. "Dang, a number _and_ an address. I'm impressed."

Letty handed the paper back to me and I slipped it in my pocket before returning to my lunch. Vince and Dom both gave me a 'we'll talk about this later' look. I knew they both wanted to know what was up more than the girls did, but they feigned disinterest. Before I knew it, lunch was over and I was back in class, Daphne filling up the spaces in-between actions again.


	7. Chapter 7

Friday night I buffed my car to a glossy shine that glistened with early morning dew as I stopped in front of Daphne's house on Saturday. I had arrived at precisely 8 am but I braced myself to wait at least fifteen minutes before she was ready. That's why I was surprised to see her opening the door as I began to walk up the steps to her house. Daphne quietly closed the door behind her and pointed back down the steps towards the car. I took that as a sign that we should move quickly and quietly to the car before anyone else showed up on the porch.

I started the car and sped up, quickly rounding the corner before I spoke. "So are we hiding something?" I challenged her, a bit annoyed at the implication.

"Actually, we aren't hiding anything. I just didn't want to wake the whole house this early," she replied, a smile underneath her words. "But if you prefer to answer awkward questions, we could turn around…"

"Nah, thanks," I replied. I turned up the music and we sped off to the racetrack in comfortable silence. I noticed that she was wearing blue jeans and a blue and white striped top. Thankfully, she had left everything orange at home today which cheered me up immensely.

We arrived at the track twenty minutes later and made our way to the pit. Dom, Vince, and Mia were already there, goofing around with Mr. Toretto's crew.

"I see there is a lot of interest in coming to the races now," Mr. Toretto said to the group at large. Some of his crew laughed. It seemed an odd comment for one additional person.

"I think he's talking about me," said a wry voice behind me. I turned to see Letty, her right eyebrow raised, daring me to comment. She hadn't come to the races the last few weeks, so her random appearance was a shock. I was ready to tease her but she looked so devil-may-care tough, I decided to divert attention elsewhere.

"Hey guys, this is Daphne. Daphne, this is Letty, Dom, Vince, Mia, Mr. Toretto, and the crew," I said pointing to each person in turn. Daphne gave a small wave. From that moment on, everyone seemed to relax and get back into the normal routine: joking and talking shop.

Around ten, Dom, Vince, Letty, Mia, Daphne, and I started walking around to check out the other cars and crews. The guys and I had made a lot of contacts coming to the track so often and intermittently we would run into people we knew from the underground racing scene. Letty was soaking up every minute of this free education, introducing herself to people, asking questions from general service to mods, and charming some of the crews by diving under the hoods to get a better look at what they were discussing. For a moment, I thought Dom might get upset at the attention Letty was getting and then I looked at his face when she bent to look under yet another hood. He got really still and I saw his checking out her hips. Woah! What was that? As she stood up, he seemed to notice I was watching him and he turned to me and rolled his eyes as if to say he was bored with the whole process.

Once we made a full revolution of the pits, we decided to go to the stands and get prime seats for the main event. I pointed out Mr. Toretto's black charger to Daphne as the racers pulled up to the line. While waiting for the green light, the racers preened a bit, revving their engines to rev up the crowd. Then, red, yellow, green, go! The cars snapped off the line and we started cheering. It was different watching the race with someone new to the scene. Daphne seemed delighted to watch the cars do their circular dance, each one positioning for first place. As the checkered flag came out, it was a close race between Dom's father and this up-and-coming racer, Linder. As they rounded the final bend, Mr. Toretto overtook Linder and seized first place. We went wild.

All too soon, it was time to leave the track. Daphne and I arrived in front of her house. "Did you have a good time?" I asked.

"Yeah, it was really cool," she was looking at me sideways again. "So when you fix your timing issue, can I see you race?"

The question caught me off guard. I was surprised she remembered that I was even working on my car. The silence began to linger.

"If you're embarrassed to show me, could you explain why you race?" she laughed at my pause.

"I could never explain it. I'd have to show you."

"When?"

"Next week," I told her before leaning in and kissing her. It was brief enough to keep her wondering and yet long enough for her to remember. "Later."

"Bye," she whispered as headed to my car, cranked it up and rode to chill with Dom and Vince at Mr. T's victory party.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. It is really keeping me inspired.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of The Fast And The Furious characters and I am not making a dime off this work of fiction.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

"So, are you seeing her now?" Mia asked me Tuesday at lunch. Wow, she waited at least two full days before grilling me. I was impressed.

"Define 'seeing'," I replied, giving her a look between my lashes, a smirk firmly in place that I knew would give me a roguish dimple. Vince snorted.

"Well you've definitely gone further than my brother has in the date department," Mia commented wryly. I grinned.

Dom's voice came out growly and offended, "What do you mean by that?" His latest companion, some blond girl that went by some funny stripper type name like Candy or Muffin, I had forgotten which, gave the table a confused look. Obviously she considered what she and Dom were doing at lunch together a date.

Letty laughed harshly, "Feeling up a different girl every other day don't count as dating." Vince, Mia, Letty, and I burst out laughing. Dom had the grace to look slightly ashamed and something else I couldn't put my finger on. He stared hard at Letty. His companion was offended realizing that Dom wasn't going to rush to defend her. I cut her off to keep the conversation from taking an ugly turn.

"When you put it that way, I guess taking Daphne to the races counts as a date then."

"Glad to know I register as a date," Daphne said stopping at the table. "Mind if I join you?" she asked indicating the seat next to Mia and diagonally across from me.

"Sure!" Mia said brightly. Letty on my left side nudged me, giving me a wise ass smirk when I turned to look her way.

"So what did I miss?" Daphne asked brightly, giving me a wide smile.

"Han was just telling us whether you…" Mia started.

"Enjoyed the races." I said cutting her off. Mia grinned, I rolled my eyes.

"Oh yeah, they were interesting," Daphne said turning to address Mia directly. "Your dad did a great job. I bet you and your brother drive just like him."

"I might when I start racing," Mia said.

"That'll never happen," Dom said in an undertone which made Mia scowl. Dom was always pulling the protective older brother out of his back pocket with her lately. It was as if he had noticed that Mia was growing up and the change was offending him.

"Dom definitely is a _decent_ racer," Mia added.

The growl and offended voice came out again. "_Decent?!?_" Everyone started laughing again except for Dom's companion. She still had her arms crossed since Letty's comment.

"Awww, Mia didn't mean anything by it pumpkin," Vince barked out between laughs, earning him a kick under the table.

"Watch it," Dom said gruffly.

"Come on Dom, it's not like Mia's going to say you're better than Mr. T," Letty quipped.

"Yeah, well how would you know?" Dom raised an eyebrow at her.

"What? You think I don't know your quarter mile time?" Letty challenged. It's true she knew his quarter mile time at the track.

"I think you don't know what you're talking about," Dom said a little meaner than necessary. Only Vince and I understood that he was referencing his quarter mile time on the streets. We still kept out extracurricular driving activities under wraps to minimize the threat of Mr. Toretto finding out. We weren't too sure if he would lose his mind because (a) it was illegal and dangerous or (b) we misrepresented ourselves when we promised to drive carefully and keep our track sessions on the track.

"I know as much as you know about racing and cars Dom," the edge was creeping into Letty's voice. She was looking at him incredulously.

"I doubt that," Dom said flippantly. Why was he provoking her?

"Why cause I'm a girl?" Letty shouted, her temper letting off a mini explosion. It was like the sun when it let off little spurts of gases and fire.

"No, cause you don't race," Dom threw back in her face.

The table got tense and silent. The two of them stared at each other, tempers barely leashed under the surface. It was true that Letty didn't race. Mr. Toretto had drawn the line at letting Letty and Mia drive on the track without the benefit of licenses. I was getting ready to change the subject when that girl, Muffin or Buffy or whatever, spoke up.

"Just because you're a mannish bitch hanging with the boys, doesn't mean you know as much as they do." This chick had the nerve to look smug. Letty lunged for her but I stood up, whipping my left arm straight out to act as a barrier for Letty. This surprised her enough to give me a chance to lower my arm and catch her wrist. Once gripped, I applied pressure to hold her steady.

"So are you saying girls can't be as smart as boys?" Mia piped up, clearly trying her best to stay diplomatic. I could tell by the way Mia's eyes had narrowed that her Toretto temper was trying to get the best of her though. That girl had gone way too far with her insult.

"No, what she's saying is that she didn't have the brain capacity to realize that Letty called her a whore till about twelve seconds ago," Daphne spit out. Her eyes were dancing with anger, "That makes her not as smart as anyone at this table."

"You know," Dom said in irritation, "I think you should leave Roxi." The girl had the gall to look affronted by Dom's sudden change in attitude towards her. She picked up her backpack and left the table in a huff. Still breathing hard, Letty slowly regained her seat. I followed suit and noticed to my astonishment that all my chips for lunch were gone. I looked to my right and saw Vince eating the last of my chips. I gave him a punch on the arm and gave he me a look that said 'What? I was hungry?' causing me to shake my head at him.

"Hmph. I thought I was the only one who caught that Letty had labeled her easy," Vince said in deadpan. The table erupted into laughter again, but I noticed that Dom and Letty both had that strange look I couldn't place on their faces. I found Daphne's eyes and she blushed at the attention making me smile outright. I hadn't noticed that she had worn her orange dress till just now. I knew at that moment that my admiration for her had transcended beyond just her looks and that she had won my respect for sticking up for a member of my family.

After school Mia, Letty, Dom, Vince, and I headed to Mr. Toretto's garage. I was itching to tune my car up so it would help me win a race this weekend. I knew I wanted to invite Daphne so she would know firsthand how fast I could complete the quarter mile. But as I lay in my bed later on that night, I contemplated whether inviting her would be considered a date.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Fast and the Furious or its characters.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 9**

How do you invite someone to come with you to an illegal street race and not get busted by a potential narc?

Thursday afternoon I decided to call Daphne and ask her if she wanted to go on a dinner date Saturday night. The ruse would work to my advantage on many levels. First, I would already have Daphne out of her house. The initial eating activity would provide a chance to fish out how receptive Daphne would be to keeping a street race secret. The eating activity would also, unbeknownst to her, keep our options open. If she was receptive and Dom or Vince called to tell me about any racing, I would be able to casually suggest that we go. If she was not receptive and there were no races, then I would suggest that she and I go see a movie. But, if she was not receptive and Dom or Vince called to tell me about any racing, I would suggest taking her home so I could go to the races. I was not, under any circumstances, leaving myself open to the taunting that would occur if I missed races to spend time with Daphne.

Second, Vince and Dom couldn't rib me about bringing Daphne to the race because I would already be out with her. I could easily explain that it made sense for Daphne to tag along since she and I were already out: if she happened to be receptive to keeping the street races secret. I figured I would surprise them on the off chance that she was willing to go rather than swing the concept by them first. I didn't want to leave them any inkling of an idea that they could tell me that Daphne wasn't allowed to come. I also didn't want to make it harder for them to trust her if I got prior approval and then didn't invite her because she was unable to keep mum.

That's how I found myself sitting across from Daphne Saturday at seven, ordering paella at this Cuban restaurant called Cha Cha Cha. She was wearing an orange colored spaghetti strapped top that did an amazing crisscrossing pattern across her upper half. Hey, I didn't understand it but it was form fitting and I was able to tell that she was breathing pretty normally. I was actually thankful that she wore the slightly offensive color so it kept my eyes mostly above her neck. Hey, I am a guy.

"So, does this count as a date," Daphne said slyly, arching one eyebrow. I laughed.

"Funny," I took a deep breath and looked into her dark brown eyes. "If you're not careful you'll know my quarter mile time soon," I said, keeping my tone light and joking. She took the bait.

"Oh? What makes you think I would want to go the track and watch you race Dom, Vince, or the clock?"

"You seem rather knowledgeable for someone who went to their first professional race last weekend," I replied dryly. She grinned.

"You know, it's amazing the things you can find out after bonding over lunch and insults."

"Oh yeah," I challenged. "So what's my time?"

Daphne smiled wide and leaned forward, "On the track? Or are you asking about the mysterious place that Letty and Mia obviously don't know about?" I was stunned. My jaw wanted to drop but I didn't have enough energy to sustain that and withstand the force of the shock. Instead I blinked at her.

"Here you go senor y senorita," our waiter had arrived with dinner. His arrival gave me time to take a sip of water and gather my wits. Ok, so I didn't have to build up to the conversation about races, just see how receptive she was to attending one. Oh, yeah, and keeping it secret. The waiter departed and I stared into her dark brown eyes again.

"What makes you think that we race anywhere other than the track?"

"It's was the way Dom told Letty that she 'didn't know what she was talking about' the other day," Daphne said, doing a semi-decent impression of Dom's voice. "Besides, you're still a bit young for the pro circuit."

I raised my eyebrow at that last bit, "That's fair. But you know we could easily race each other to school every day for all you know." I knew I was pushing it, but I really wanted to see if she would work this out on her own.

"Bull malarkey. There is no way that you spend all that time fixing your 'timing issue' for a cheap thrill to and from school," Daphne did a good impression of my voice too. "And your car…"

"Hey! What about my car?" I jumped in getting a bit touchy.

"It doesn't look like the muscle cars at the track last Saturday but it certainly sounds like them. And I know you didn't paint it fast ass dark blue with white for your health."

"What do you mean, 'fast ass dark blue with white'?" I was feeling mildly affronted.

"What I mean is that you painted it to fit in somewhere else other than the professional racing scene. If you, or Dom, or Vince for that matter, wanted to just tune your cars for track racing giggles then you wouldn't have cared about changing your stock paint job."

I was deeply impressed. I clearly had underestimated Daphne and her body of knowledge. I nodded, looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to us or trying to overhear, then bent forward as if I was going to kiss her over the table. Instead I moved her hair to cover her face and spoke into her ear. Anyone looking at us would think we were kissing; a thought which entered my head as her breath teased my lips.

"How well can you keep a secret?" I whispered.

"Really well," she whispered back. The words tickled my lips and I shivered.

"Do you trust me?" I said, softer this time.

"It's not my trust in you that's in question right now," she said shrewdly. I sat back and looked at her with deep respect. Daphne had brains and tact. Another hard look, one she returned in equal measure and I had my answer. Then my phone rang and she looked at me sideways. I picked up the phone.

"Yo."

"Han man. We are on tonight. We'll roll out from the garage at ten," Dom's words registered in my brain as I continued to look at Daphne.

"We'll be there," Daphne's eyes went wide and she took a sip of water.

"We?" Dom said in disbelief. I chuckled and hung up, leaving him hanging. I signaled to the waiter for the check. Daphne and I left the restaurant and made our way to my car. I stood, holding the door open for her but as she brushed past me to sit; I frowned and closed the door. The frown stayed on my face as I walked around and got in the driver's seat. We rode to the garage in silence and arrived with fifteen minutes to spare. I turned off the engine and looked at her, my frown still in place.

"So, you think my car is plain." I stated it, but it really was a question.

"Are you serious?" Daphne sounded incredulous. I folded my arms.

"You've got to be kidding me," she huffed, throwing up her hands.

"What?"

"If you're more worried about your paint job than making out with me, then this is definitely _not_ a date." I rolled my eyes. Of course I was worried about making out with her, just not when I knew the guys would show up at any moment. Sure enough as I completed the thought and we heard their engines roar into the drive. I shrugged my shoulders and she sighed loudly. We didn't even exit the cars. Vince flashed his high beams once, then they pulled out and I followed them to the spot. I think that's the most exciting thing about the races. We never knew exactly where they would be and we didn't have a set place that the racing community would meet up.

After ten minutes or so, I could see the signs of a race being set up. I could tell by the increase in supped up cars that we were really close. I wondered briefly if Daphne would notice the subtle increase in activity. I definitely knew by her sharp intake that she was awed by the sheer number of racers when we turned the corner and joined the growing line up that framed the area where the race would be held. We got out of the car and met at the hood.

"So what do you think?" I asked. Daphne was looking around like a kid in a candy store after hours.

"I retract my previous statement," I looked at her confused. She turned to me and whispered in my ear, "This is definitely counting as a date."

Dom and Vince approached us. Dom looked amused, but Vince was rolling his neck and flexing his muscles menacingly. I sat on the hood of my car and pulled a small bag of cookies out of my pocket. I lazily opened them up and offered Daphne some. She shook her head no so I rolled my eyes and started tossing them into my mouth. Vince sniffed, snarled, and then spoke.

"What's she doing here?"

"Nice Vince," Dom drawled.

"I came to see if your quarter mile time was better here than on the tracks," Daphne said in a bored tone. I kept munching but I smiled on the inside that she was holding her own.

"I don't want to hear about this," Dom waived his hand to encompass the scene, "at school or anywhere else for that matter. Can you handle that?" Daphne nodded. That sufficed for Dom, so it would have to do for Vince as well. Vince came and sat on my left side then helped himself to my cookies. I gave him a look which made him smile and shrug as if to say _'What? I'm hungry!'_

After a few minutes, Hector came over and we exchanged manly handshakes. He gave Daphne a smile then turned to Dom. "Hey, there's a rookie trying to throw his hand in for a race, one g buy in. Anyone game?" Dom looked at me and I nodded.

"Han could use the easy money," Dom said. Hector flashed me a grin.

"Aww, hell yeah. Pull up to the line man," Hector said as I slapped a grand in his hand. I turned to Daphne and pulled her face close to mine.

"Stay near Dom and Vince. If the cops come, jump in one of their rides and they will take care of you," I told her. Then I lowered my voice and she hitched her breath, "And keep that fool away from my cookies." Daphne blinked at me and I stuffed the cookies in her hand. I took her momentary stunned silence as a chance to hop in my car and pony up to the line.

Reaching the line, I looked over at my opponents. The rookie was easy to spot. He had a nervous look about him and a quick scan of his car explained his look. While none of us at the line had extremely decorated cars, his was still stock painted. I huffed a bit. Darn rookie. If Daphne could distinguish this subtle nuance with her limited experience, it definitely was going to set off a red flag of inexperience to the rest of us more committed racers. In all honesty, if you weren't ready to change something as simple as your paint job to declare yourself part of the club, you probably weren't dedicated enough to do much to upgrade from the stock parts on your ride.

The other two guys I recognized as regulars. One was one of the various Tran extended family members and the other was this dude named Edwin. Edwin was a bit mousy but he was cool and he had heart. He wasn't very good at racing, but he had a lot of dedication and hope that he used to help him step up to the line consistently. I could respect his determination. Hector came to the line and stood between Edwin and the random Tran. He raised his arms, we revved our engines, then he lowered his arms shouting, "Go!" Three of us flew off the line. Silly rookie, racing ain't for the kids. I shifted to second, then third, then fourth. Edwin started to fall back. He really should work on his shifting. I was keeping pace with the Tran. Shift to fifth. Damn he's good. We were still keeping pace. Suddenly the Tran shot forward and left me behind, crossing the finish a half second before me.

We returned to the start to people surrounding him and cheering. I got out and started walking towards my friends. Daphne was looking at me sideways again.

"What the hell was that dog?" Vince said gruffly. I didn't try to feign ignorance.

"That was nitrous in action," I replied, reaching out to Daphne for my cookies. She returned them eagerly. Dom had that funny look on his face again. It was the look I had trouble placing. Usually I only saw it when he looked at Letty so it was weird to see it on his face now.

"That changes things," he said slowly, eyeing the exchange of money from Hector to the Tran.

"Let's clear out," Hector yelled and people started getting in their rides and rolling out, away from the scene of the race. Dom and Vince left in their respective rides and I took Daphne home.

"I'm really sorry about the race Han," she told me quietly. I shrugged.

"You know, I'm not upset by the loss," I told her. She gave me a withering look.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really." I looked at her for a moment then exited the car. I opened the passenger side door for her and she got out. Shutting the door I then leaned her against it to whisper in her ear.

"So what was the point of racing?" she asked. She voice took on that breathy quality again.

"To show you my quarter mile time," I chuckled. She laughed. I leaned closer to her and kissed her slowly and softly. After a few moments, she pushed me aside and walked up to her front door. Then she turned and grinned.

"Well in that case, you _are_ pretty darn fast."


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Fast and The Furious, it characters or its situations.**

**A/N: 11 Mar 2008: I rewrote the chapter to make it clearer to understand. The main idea is the same, just a little clearer to understand.**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

Desire. It took me a few weeks to figure out what that unexplainable look had been on Dom's face. It was pure, unadulterated desire. The look he had given Tran had been a desire to know what had given him the edge to win. Dom desired to go faster. He craved the speed that Tran had possessed under his hood.

Following the lost race, Dom became manic. He read as many car magazines as possible and set out to do some serious research on nitrous oxide. Large tanks versus small tanks. Visible versus hidden. One shot versus two. Momentary versus a continuous shot effects. He became so obsessive about the subject that lately we began to avoid the topic just to keep us from getting our pants bored off. This is not to say that the rest of us weren't intrigued by the same things, but none of us had completely immersed ourselves to the precipice right before insanity that Dom was leaning over.

Our behavior at races changed too. We still went to races but Vince, Dom, and I refused to race any Trans. We knew that what they had under their hoods would blow us out of the water so we raced people who didn't have the bottled speed advantage. This was a temporary stop-gap measure. We knew that we needed to eventually catch up with the times but there were several things standing in the way.

First, nitrous required a substantial amount of green. If we could have bottled the green envy we had for the Tran's systems, we could have paid for our own several times over. Sadly, the green currency we needed was in short supply, despite the races we had won. I personally knew that I could account for practically every dollar that I had won: I was driving around in it. But a new nitrous system, from the bottles of actual spray to the systems that processed the mix and the little 'go' button with wires, cost money that we just didn't have.

Second, we didn't know how to really hook up the nitrous system to our cars. I actually seconded Vince when he told Dom, "I'm not risking blowing myself up to win anything, brotha". A shoddy hook up could end up with us hooked up to machines that beep in an emergency room. And emergency room bills would fall under the same rant mentioned in my first point regarding our lack of nitrous. Auto Shop at school was not going to give us any insight into hooking those systems up. But Dom's desire would not let him rest on this point so he went on the hunt for someone who had experience in these matters.

Third, and probably most important, was secrecy. We knew we needed to keep the whole operation under wraps. Mr. Toretto would run us over if he found out that we put nitrous in our cars. The problem was, even if we found another garage to install it, one tune up job in the Toretto's garage would spill the beans anyway. A skilled mechanic like Mr. T would know we had the system set up simply by popping the hood. This third obstacle was going to be a real challenge. But you know that cliché, 'where there's a will, there's a way', right?

Sure enough, that Saturday Dom's digging led us to this small auto parts shop called _The Racer's Edge_. There were parts on display along the walls. There were two or three isles in the whole store, jam packed with displays of additional parts and accessories, and one full isle devoted to tools. There was nothing fancy about the place or the owner Harry. He was a tastelessly dressed man of about thirty with a head for customer service and his vast array of car parts.

"Hey fellas, what can I help you find?" Harry asked his gaze directed towards us as if he was trying to scan our faces into his memory.

"Just checking out the stuff you have for nitrous systems," Dom said in a casual conversational tone.

Harry's right eyebrow rose into a disbelieving arch and that was when I knew that Harry was a shrewd businessman. Despite what Dom's words and tone had meant to convey, Harry could read the situation better than we thought. His next actions would prove what I initially thought about his personality to be true. Harry saw three guys, kids really, getting ready to make a serious investment in their cars with no real skill knowledge about how to get the job done. But he also saw a desire to succeed in Dom's eyes. He could tell that we weren't putting the nitrous oxide system in as a focal talking point at smart parties. This would be a system that we would be using to win some races in our cars. Illegal street races. And I knew that Harry was smart enough not to ask us why we wanted the parts. After all, he wasn't prohibited from selling the parts and what we did with them was our business. This last part would create a bond of trust that would become respected in the racing community.

Harry, instead of sending the skinny dude with large glasses who was clearly an underling of this small empire to help us, came around the counter to show us his display of nitrous products and red 'go' buttons. Dom, being the resident expert of our trio asked several questions about every wire, nut and bolt that was required to get a decent system set up. At one point, the conversation turned to the tools needed to both set up and maintain these systems, the weight they would add to the cars, and the necessary adjustments that would need to be made in order to keep the cars road worthy with all the extra equipment. After an hour of this discussion, Harry finally went to the counter and pulled out a massive parts binder. He began laboriously writing out a parts breakdown and the cost to procure each of the necessary items they discussed. He also included a listing of the parts that were, while not necessary, the bells and whistles that would provide comfort and/or individual style to a nitrous set-up. Finally, on the back of the laundry list of parts, Harry scribbled down a few notes then he looked up at us.

"This should help you keep our conversation today in order," he said shutting the large binder. Checking to see that his skinny employee with the large glasses was occupied with other customers, he said in a low voice, "On the back is the number for this guy K.C. who has some practical knowledge about nitrous oxide systems."

I stared at Harry without blinking for a full minute. What?!? This guy was going to give us a mechanical contact to learn from? "What's the angle?" I asked. I could be shrewd too.

"Let's call it strengthening a budding business relationship," he replied. I raised my eyebrows. Vince scowled. He didn't like owing anyone anything.

"The way I see it you buy parts here, you race, you win, and other racers will buy parts here too," he said matter-of-factly. "Then again you could buy parts here, race, lose or blow yourselves up and total my business."

"So either way it's a risk," stated Dom.

"Naw, he gives us the contact and we do it right so he saves his ass from option two," I stated.

Harry nodded his approval at my statement, stuffed the paper into Dom's hand and returned his voice to normal volume, "Goodnight guys. Thanks for coming to _The Racer's Edge_."

Less than twelve hours later, I found myself lying in bed staring at the ceiling after another race night. I had just walked into the house maybe fifteen minutes before, strode to my bedroom and stripped to just my boxers before flopping unceremoniously onto the bed. I was tired but my mind kept whirring at the events of our trip to the auto parts store. Would it be wise to trust our education to K.C. an unknown quantity? After all, up till this point, everything we had learned was from Mr. Toretto and his racing crew.

The fear of trusting this random guy with our education was being weighed against the sorriest night of racing I had ever attended. It seems that others were beginning to take our approach to racing which meant that very few people were challenging the Trans. Johnny Tran in particular looked like he was catching on to the trend. The whole night every race was complete with a member of the Tran clan which meant that Dom, Vince, and I did not race at all. What iced the cake was the fact that each member of the Tran clan won his race including crappy ass Lance who could barely shift his car properly. As we were leaving, Johnny had nerve to comment that perhaps his family would have to find a better group of racers to give them a challenge. It almost made me happy to have someone yell, "Cops! Cops! Cops! ". Vince seemed to lose the murderous rage in his eyes at the prospect of being arrested. We scattered, but the comment was still buzzing in my brain.

Eventually I went to sleep, but the comment didn't disappear as I hoped it would. My consciousness wouldn't let it go so I carried it with me to lunch on Monday. Daphne had taken to sitting with us at lunch on a more regular basis ever since her first trip to the races. We were slowly adjusting to her constant presence at our table. At first, she sat on my left hand side which was advantageous to me but was quickly vetoed. Since I eat with my right hand, my left hand was free to roam wherever it wished. One day I caressed Daphne's leg for fifteen minutes without realizing it. She however kept loosing the vein of her conversation and spilled half her water onto her sandwich. Mia slyly suggested that Daphne should sit on my right side next time to, "Um, keep her attention in the conversation." The next day, Daphne started sitting in between me and Vince. This worked for a few days until Vince tried to sneak a few of her chips. After the war of words, dirty looks, and flying chips a cease fire was issued in which both parties agreed to sit as far away from each other as possible.

That's how Daphne ended up sitting across from me. Letty sat between me and Vince and across the table from Mia. Dom and Vince still sat in their positions across from each other at the end of the table and ever since his nitrous obsession began, Dom ceased bringing girls to lunch with him. Incidentally, once Letty started sitting diagonally across from him, he seemed less inclined to even mention other girls at lunch. Sometimes, when he thought that no one would notice, I would catch him looking at Letty with that desire look. Then again, I couldn't tell if it was residue from his nitrous obsession spilling over or a genuine interest in Letty as more than a fixture in Toretto garage space. But I digress. Daphne kicked my leg to get my attention. I looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" she said innocently. Fishing already. No wonder Mia liked her.

"Humph," I grunted. She kicked me again. I glared.

"Jeez, if looks could kill…" Mia trailed off.

"Leave it," Dom said tiredly, not bothering to look up from his latest copy of _Import Tuner_.

"Whoa! What's wrong with you?" Mia exclaimed. Dom looked up from his magazine and gave her an annoyed look. He held her gaze for a moment, rolled his eyes, sighed, and then resumed reading.

"You're kidding me, right? That totally does not suffice as an answer," Daphne said astonished.

"Look, Dom already said to leave it alone," Vince said in his exasperated tone. He was always loyal to a fault. Then again I guess that's the way people act when they've been friends with someone since the third grade.

"What? Is Dom's word law of the table now?" Letty asked sarcastically. I made a sound between a laugh and a no. Everyone started to laugh except for Dom. He looked up again and stared hard at Letty who was laughing too hard to notice. She looked a lot softer when she smiled and Dom's desire look started to creep over his face. I could tell that it was strictly Letty's doing this time. The laughter died down and Dom immersed himself back in his magazine. Daphne kicked me a third time.

"So, are you going to come up off at least a smoke screen for the bad moods among the males today?" Daphne said grinning at me. I shook my head no.

"You know, I read in a medical journal that guys can experience symptoms like PMS," Mia said in a teasing tone. Vince chucked a balled up straw wrapper at her. That was amazing since he hadn't broken stride between picking up chips and eating them to do it. This made Mia grin.

"Seriously, what is up with you three?" Letty asked suspiciously. Oh no. A suspicious Letty was like setting a pack of private investigators loose on the city. They were bound to find out everything you were trying to hide. A diversion was in order. I coughed to clear my throat, drawing their attention.

"I've got a timing issue," I said, looking into Daphne's brown eyes. I was hoping she would realize what I was trying to say. She didn't disappoint, comprehension dawning on her features.

"You got that right," Dom said dryly. Daphne and I grinned remembering a conversation we'd had ages ago.

"Letty, I feel like we just missed something," Mia said. Letty punched my right shoulder so I turned to look at her. She gave me a 'yeah what about it?' look and I just shook my head at her. Looking back down at my lunch I noticed I was missing chips. I gave a quick look to my far right to stare at Vince before hearing a crunching noise across from me. Turning my head, I saw Daphne enjoying the last of my chips. No wonder she got annoyed at Vince's sticky fingers over her lunch.

Later that afternoon at the Toretto garage, Dom pulled Vince and me aside to talk. Letty looked over from the car she was working on with Mr. Toretto with suspicious eyes.

"Listen, I think we should meet that K.C. guy," Dom said plainly. No hesitation, no second thoughts.

"You're sure about this brotha," Vince said, stating the obvious in a way that showed he had no objections to go along with this plan.

"When?" I asked. I didn't want to be the rain cloud that stopped our forward progress.

"I set it up tomorrow right after school. I'll drive," Dom said quickly and we broke apart to each work on changing oil and doing other random boring jobs for Toretto's customers.

The next afternoon had the third obstacle to nitrous oxide practically on our doorsteps. Secrecy. I should have taken Letty's suspicious look more seriously. She still hadn't given up on finding out what had us in a bother the day before. Dom had made a flimsy excuse about finishing a project in auto shop to keep Mr. Toretto appeased. It wasn't like us to want to miss a day in the garage and we didn't want him prying into where we were for the afternoon. Right after school Dom drove us to a garage about a half hour away. He parked along the side of the modest brick building that said 'Garage' on the front. We walked into the artificially lit garage with space enough for two cars to be serviced and Dom called out a greeting.

"You Dom?" a voice said from behind us. We turned to see a guy about twenty-five covered in grease from head to toe approaching us.

"That's me. You K.C.?"

"Yep, you're looking at 'em," he smiled. On closer inspection, this dude looked like he was recovering from a bar brawl. He had a healing bruise near his left eye and his nose looked like it had seen straighter days.

"Harry said you might know something about nitrous systems," Vince said, clearly trying to fish out this guy's knowledge before this trip became a waste of time.

"I've hooked up my fair share of them," K.C. replied evenly.

"And no one has been blown to kingdom come?" Vince asked briskly.

"Naw, not that I'm aware," K.C. replied, not ruffled in the least at Vince's attitude. "Why? You guys need someone to set yours up for you?"

"Actually, we were looking more for instruction," Dom said quickly, cutting off what he thought would be a smart remark from Vince.

"So you want me to check over your system to see if you did it right?" I couldn't tell if K.C. was fishing or playing dumb but I gave him the benefit of a doubt.

"No. We can put in the wrench time, we just want to learn how to put a nitrous system together right," I told him, putting it out in the open. For a moment he didn't say anything. I don't think he got asked for lessons often.

"Harry, that bastard," K.C. interjected disgustedly. He leaned back to rest against the doorframe which led to the front entrance and an office, looking us up and down.

"Look, I don't know what your problem is with Harry, but if this is some vendetta shit…" Vince started but K.C. shook his head while sighing.

"You going to do this or what?" Dom said, getting impatient. K.C. gave us each a look in the eyes then at last he spoke.

"I assume you each have a car that you want to upgrade right?" We nodded. He looked resigned. "You bring one car. You supply the parts. I will supply a few hours each day after school for instruction. You complete this first job, then you work on the second car here and I check it over. You complete the second job; we wash rinse and repeat for the third, ok?"

Dom cracked a smile and reached forward to shake K.C.'s hand. Vince and I each took a turn afterwards then we got back into the car and headed for the Toretto house where we left our cars. We would get an opportunity to get experience for free and upgrade our cars in the process. Way to go Dom! All we needed to do then was get the money together to get the parts we needed. It didn't seem so impossible now that we would be able to get those parts to work on our own. Well, actually with K.C.'s help. Our good mood lasted all the way back to Echo Park. As we pulled up to the Toretto's white house, we noticed Letty sitting on the porch looking smug.

"What? You finish your project for Mr. T?" I asked, trying to figure out why she would look like she landed first place at Palmdale track.

"Nope," she smirked.

"You left us all of the oil changes for tomorrow?" Vince said putting his right arm around her neck and playfully nudging her hair. She broke free, still smiling.

"Nope."

"You got your permit," Dom said. Letty smiled and flashed us her permit. Dag, how did he know? Then I remembered that we had cake a few weeks back for Letty's 16th birthday.

"Nope," she said smiling more broadly.

"Then what gives little girl?" Vince asked.

"You guys forgot that I had to make up today's missed auto shop class after school," she said laughing. Our faces fell immediately. Then I remembered that she left school early with Mr. T to go to DMV. "So are you going to tell me where you went after school?"

"A bar," Vince said quickly. It was plausible since it was common knowledge that Vince had visited his share of bars to find his mother on several occasions. However lately she had taken to drinking at home. Vince had to brawl with the other regular patrons to get her to come home the last time. I think that embarrassed her.

"You never take Dom or Han with you to get your mom, Scruffy," Letty shot at him.

"Let, just leave it alone," Dom said in that tired tone again.

"What did you mess up on your car that you couldn't fix it at your Dad's garage?"

"Who says I messed anything up on my car?"

"The way you three were acting. And I know that there is nothing wrong with the timing on your car Han." Ouch. She was going for the jugular.

"Letty, give it a rest," Dom said with more heat.

"No. I want in on whatever it is you're doing," she said, heat creeping into her voice too. I could feel the argument brewing.

"Can you keep a secret?" Dom asked her, catching her off guard.

"Of course I can!"

"Good. Keeps this one about us being elsewhere and I'll show you something better." Vince and I stared at them. What was Dom playing at?

"If you are playing me Dom, so help me…"Letty started, stepping up into his face. He leaned down so they were almost breathing the other's breath and staring into each other's eyes. It felt almost voyeuristic to watch that desire look flit over both of their faces.

"I'll pick you up at nine-thirty Saturday night. Don't tell anyone about it," Dom said, his voice getting husky. He raised his right hand and tugged at a strand of her hair.

"What, you ashamed of me or something?" Letty said but it sounded like she couldn't catch her breath properly.

"Nah, its all part that keeping secrets business," he replied, standing up and breaking the spell. Vince laughed and we all headed inside for dinner. You know, Dom was doing an excellent job of clearing obstacles.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Fast and The Furious, it characters or its situations.**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

Saturday afternoon came quickly for me. I was surprised that the prospect of letting yet another person in our extracurricular activities wasn't plaguing me. Then again I had much bigger walls to climb.

Dom had taken care of the second obstacle, lack of training. K.C., regardless of how sketchy he seemed to me, was going to teach us how to add nitrous to our cars. I was still amazed that Dom was able to swing all of this for free. Well maybe I shouldn't be so surprised. Dom tended to act like a gravity machine at times, collecting people into his space without effort but able to throw people from his field of gravity simply by flipping a switch. We'd witnessed this before most often with girls of Dom's acquaintance. Roxy had been thrown from orbit quicker than kicking a soccer ball for throwing off the orbital balance of the other member objects of Dom's lunch table solar system. So I guess it wasn't that far of a stretch that Harry would be drawn to help Dom who's strong, confident, and loyal personality demanded respect and adoration from those around him.

In a way, as long as we played it safe and managed the output of some of the objects in Dom's solar system, we could maintain a hold over obstacle three, secrecy. As it stood, the planet Venus didn't know anything and wouldn't know anything remotely relating to street racing. Dom was very unyielding on this point. When I suggested that he should tell Mia to get her help in keeping our excuses to Mr. Toretto believable, Dom got stone faced. I didn't need him to say 'no' to get the message loud and clear. She would not be a part of either the illegal street racing world or embroiled in our web of secrecy regarding the illegal street racing world. Dom wanted her to be able to answer her father honestly: 'No, I don't know where Dom is…I didn't know what Dom was up to…I never went to a race'. Way to slide the protective older brother card out of your pocket Dom.

The Moon already knew and was doing an excellent job of keeping the secret. I was proud of Daphne. She was smart enough to allude to the races without arousing the suspicions of the uneducated members of the solar system. In fact, I was going to invite her to the races again even though I knew I would most likely sit on the sidelines the whole night. I enjoyed going with her twice more since our initial race date and she was a trooper. She even cheered Vince on when he raced the last time, putting aside old chip-stealing hurts for the team. I almost didn't mind that sometimes she wore orange dominated outfits or ate some of my munchies, the latter which she had no trouble taking from me even though she was very protective of her snacks at lunch.

The Sun was an unknown quantity. I already knew that the Asteroid Belt would do its best beat everything into submission, but I also knew that their close ties would make it difficult for him. Vince would probably end up trying to use threats of impending doom rather than his fists to keep Letty from telling, but then again, the Sun could pack a punch as painful as a stray asteroid. In all honesty, I was surprised that Letty didn't know about the races already. Whether she knew it or not, she hung around a lot of racers in Auto Shop. Hector, a couple of his cousins, Edwin, Vince, Dom, and I were all in shop and all present at races. She had gained respect from all of us too: unafraid to do the messy or heavy jobs, making up classes she missed, and kicking all of our asses on our written exams. The threat really was her temper. Just like the sun, she could let off a spurt of energy that could damage people when riled. Her mouth had already gotten her into scrapes in the school yard and she had left a trail of split lips, blackened eyes, and bleeding noses in her wake. Funny, but the only person who seemed to never to mind the powerful rays of the Sun was Dom. But then, can one force of nature really bother another?

I would consider myself Mars. I was silent. I could see things and experience things and yet be a complete mystery. I could stand being close to the Sun and succumb to Gravity. However, like Mars, I seemed to make people question themselves. _Was there life on Mars?_ Possibly. _Are there any other reasons to race besides winning?_ Yes, but do you need to have a reason to race in order to win? Thinking about my reasons for racing, I decided to call Daphne and invite her to the races tonight. Of course she agreed. After all, she was not going to miss an opportunity to see Letty get shocked speechless. It would be a rare moment.

I went to pick Daphne up at nine. We were going to meet up with Dom, Letty, and Vince at Toretto's Garage at ten, but I wanted to spend some time alone with her first. I parked at the curb of her house and started to get out of the car when the door to her house flew open. Before I could fully comprehend what was going on, Daphne was running to the car, pulling the handle and flopping into the car.

"DRIVE!" she yelled at me. I didn't argue. I quickly hopped back in the car, cranked the ignition, and spun away from the curb. As I looked in my rearview mirror, I saw a lady that looked like an older version of Daphne with shorter brown hair standing in the street, laughing her head off.

"What was that?" I asked her the moment we turned the corner. My heart rate had shot up the moment she commanded me to drive.

"Look, I just saved you from the modern inquisition back there," Daphne heaved, trying to catch her breath between words.

"Come again?"

"My mother, erm…"she seemed to be gathering her courage to tell me what was going on. "My mother, she…"

"What about your mother?" I was getting irritated and I wanted to get to the bottom of this. I turned into the driveway for Toretto's garage and turned off the car. Trying to seem casual, I slowly unbuckled my seat belt and turned to face her. I knew she told me before that she wasn't embarrassed to have me meet her family, but she was really making me suspicious. She took a deep breath and mirrored my actions.

"My mother wants to play twenty questions with you."

"What?" It came out as half cough, half incredulous laugh. She smiled.

"Ha! I know you were thinking that I didn't want you to meet them huh," she said shrewdly.

"Well I haven't actually made it to the front door Daph."

"That's because I am trying to save you the headache and myself the embarrassment. Father will tell you all these stories about when I was younger and did things like put bowls on my head. Mother will want to know everything about you from conception till this afternoon. Do you really think you want to sit through something like that?" Daphne started to blush profusely. I guess she was really embarrassed that her family would take such a vested interest in someone she was dating.

"Awww, I think it's cute," I said, trying unsuccessfully to keep the laughter out of my voice. She punched me in the shoulder.

"You know, on second thought I think that sort of torture would do you some real good. Don't want to spare the rod and spoil the child right?" I lightly punched her in her shoulder. Daphne gave me a withering look. "Hey!"

"Maybe we should invite your parents on the old dating standby."

"You want to invite my parents to a movie?"

"Yeah." Daphne gave me another withering look.

"You're expecting them to make out through the whole movie or something?"

"No," I said slowly as if explaining to a small child. "This way they won't have time to talk to us." I received another punch on the arm. "Then again we could make out instead of them."

"Maybe," Daphne said wistfully. I reacted on impulse. I reached out, cupped her face in my hands, and kissed her. For a moment her eyes stared at me, and then I felt them flutter close. She deepened the kiss. I was really getting into making out with her when the garage lot was lit up by the headlights of a car. I slowly pulled away and straightened up, tucking some errant strands of her hair behind her ears before she completely pulled out of reach. Vince arrived at the driver's side window and I rolled it down.

"We're ready to roll," Vince told me gruffly. I nodded and he headed back to his car and we followed Dom to the races.

"You jerks were keeping this from me?" Letty said her eyes wide, her stance defensive. So much for shocked speechless. Damn Sun was always letting of those unpredictable explosions.

"Hey, good to see you too," I said in my nonchalant tone that I had perfected for races. I sat on the hood of my car and Daphne leaned against it as well. I pulled my munchies out of my pocket, opened them, the offered her some which she took, just as casually, and began popping in her mouth. I was definitely rubbing off on her.

"Over half the shop class is out here. Why didn't you let me in on this sooner?" Letty seemed accusatory.

"You didn't have a permit till this week Letty," Dom told her laughingly.

"Yeah, well…you still could have let me in on it," she said petulantly.

"Look sunshine, we didn't bring you to get your panties in a bunch," Vince told her, putting an arm around her shoulders.

"Come on Letty, I'll show you around," Dom offered friendly. Letty frowned.

"I don't need you to escort me like a little kid," she replied defensively. Dom frowned.

"I didn't mean it like that Letty cut the shit." And there they were again, Dom and Letty in a contest of wills. It seemed like their emotions were always bubbling close to the surface where the other was concerned lately. Letty turned to glower at Dom and I felt Daphne push herself up off the hood of my car. She walked to Letty's side and smoothly positioned herself in between Letty and Dom.

"Come on, I'll show you around," Daphne said, steering Letty gently toward Edwin and his friends. Dom watched them walk away, shaking his head like he was confused.

"Whatever, let's see who's racing tonight," Dom snapped, walking towards Hector but still keeping an eye on the girls.

"Hey Holmes, what's good?" Hector said clasping hands with Dom and doing some complicated hand shake. Hector nodded at me and shook Vince's hand in that same complicated fashion.

"Who's racing tonight," Dom asked.

"Nobody yet. You setting something up?" Hector asked. Dom looked contemplative.

"Who's here tonight?" I posed the question to give Dom time to think and a way to save face. Dom could decide not to race if he found out a Tran was there.

"Just the usual crowd Holmes. Edwin is really itching to race tonight. Sam's done some recent upgrades to his ride too."

"You wanna race tonight?" Vince asked.

"I might," Hector said looking past us at something behind our backs. "It doesn't look like Tran's crew is running tonight. Lance mentioned something about the old man having a big family thing for Johnny's sister."

"Well then, we wouldn't want to disappoint anyone here by not having a race," Dom said with a slight smile on his face. "I'm in. Hector, you in?"

"Hell yeah man! What's the buy in?" I saw Dom's gears shifting. _Not too low for reputation sake, not too high because he didn't have a whole lot of money._

"One g should do it," I said in a nonchalant tone again. "We're just playing tonight right?"

"Yeah, I'll go rustle up Edwin and Sam. See you at the line," Hector said, practically rushing past us to whatever he saw that was distracting him before.

"What the hell was he looking at so hard brother?" Vince snapped. The three of us turned around to view where Hector had run off to. I almost fell over laughing. Daphne was standing off to the side of what seemed to be a crowd of guys watching with an amused expression on her face. And bent practically double under the hood of Sam's hood was Letty. Well to be honest, all we could see were two rounded butt cheeks in a pair of tight low rise jeans. Dom's face turned red and his jaw dropped.

"What's she doin' man?" Vince howled. I understood the concern. Sam was twenty-one, five-eleven, blond, and a big player. He was a decent racer too. I don't think Vince was worried about Letty giving him tips to boost his car's performance. Any tips she gave him would be lost in translation anyway. He probably couldn't think straight since he was ogling her ass. Hector tapped Sam on the shoulder and started to convey the fact that he was getting ready to organize a race. That's when Letty arched her back to get a better look at something under the hood. I bet she didn't realize that her innocent move had even caught Hector's attention. He quit talking mid sentence and seemed to lose his train of thought altogether. Dom's face got stony. I caught Daphne's eye and we shared a knowing smile.

"We racing or what?" Dom shouted, catching the attention of the crowd at large. Most people turned to look at him. Sam, Hector, and Edwin nodded. Dom started walking back to his car, his eyes still on Letty. She hadn't bothered to look up; she was so focused on the car. Sam walked up beside her, placed a hand on her lower back, and bent to whisper something in her ear. She stood up quickly, her eyes narrowed, and then she grabbed Daphne and walked towards our cars.

"I guess this means I'm riding with Vince since you're racing," Letty stated, heading towards the passenger seat of Vince's car. Dom didn't say anything, just jumped into his car and sped off towards the start line.

As soon as Daphne and I got in my car, we started to laugh uncontrollably. We laughed all the way to the line and only composed ourselves before we hopped out to join Vince and Letty. We didn't need to say it, but we both were thinking the same thing. _Those two are meant for each other_. And it made sense in the solar system really. Gravity may be the force holding the solar system together, but it also made sure that the other objects paid respect by orbiting the Sun. The race began and was won in less than eleven seconds. Dom hadn't let Letty's frosty attitude damage his chances of winning. He swung back to the line and was greeted by the cheering crowd. While his back was being slapped and money was being pushed into his open palm, Dom scanned the crowd for us. He stalked over and handed Daphne the money. This was a first.

"Daphne, count this for me?" he said in a questioning tone so he wouldn't offend her. Daphne nodded and began counting the stack of bills. Letty looked at him really strangely, her head bent to the right, her eyes searching for a sign of what would happen next. Dom bent down, placed his arms around her thighs, and lifted Letty into the air. He gave her a twirl, let her slide down his body, and when they were at eye level said gruffly, "You're my trophy."

Jaws dropped. This was a first. Dom had actually laid claim to a girl in front of the race crowd. This from the guy who was a serial dater. I caught sight of Sam smirking and when Dom put Letty down, I could have sworn she gave Sam a wink. That sneak. She had set Dom up and spurred him into action. I didn't think she had it in her. Daphne finished counting, pronounced the earnings all accounted for, and the crowd dispersed. Daphne and I didn't say a word on the ride home but we held hands smiling.

"Hey, don't forget to ask your parents about the movies," I said as she opened the door to her house. I was standing by my car in case she signaled me to make a quick getaway. Daphne smiled then closed the door. I felt content enough to look at her house for a few moments before heading to my house. As I closed my eyes, I couldn't help but smile to myself. Dom had not only stopped denying what was blossoming between him and Letty, but he had scored some case we could use for parts in his nitrous upgrade. Gravity is great.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Fast and the Furious or its characters. I do not make any money off of this work.**

**

* * *

****Chapter 12**

No ride is ever smooth or free. Dom's three grand win was spent by Monday evening and by Tuesday afternoon we'd come up with a great reason not to come by Toretto's Garage after school.

"After school jobs," Mr. T said wiping the grease from his hands.

"Yeah Dad, after school jobs," Dom stated carefully to keep his tone even.

"What's the sudden interest in an after school job? I thought you liked spending time here," Mr. T seemed curious.

"We do like spending time here," Vince piped up. He was being honest too. We loved spending time in the garage, feeling like part of the team and working on cars.

"I guess the pay is better outside the family huh," Mr. T smiled. It was the truth. We didn't get _paid_ at the garage: at least not in the sense that one would normally get paid at a job. We never wanted for gas money or spending change but we didn't exactly get paychecks either. I shrugged and Mr. T sighed heavily.

"Go," he said tiredly waving his hand as if swatting away flies. "Go do your independence thing. But I expect each of you at a family dinner at least once a week, no exceptions." Dom raised an eyebrow. Mr. Toretto continued in a wise tone, "What? I understand what it's like to want to try something different for a while. But you'll be back here in no time."

"And why's that Mr. Toretto?" I asked.

"Because ya'll won't handle having any job that doesn't put grease under your nails for very long," Letty said, wiping grease from her hands. Everyone grinned.

Wednesday afternoon Vince, Dom and I each drove our cars to K.C.'s garage. K.C. took a look at the parts, deemed them "a start" and proceeded to show and explain how much work would be needed to hook the system up right.

"Right, in addition to all these parts you still need to get some odds and ends," K.C. said clapping his hands together. I looked at him like he was crazy.

"Didn't we get everything on Harry's list?" I told him incredulously. K.C. spread his hands real wide in a non threatening gesture and gave a shrug.

"Hey, Harry has his lists and I have mine," he said nonchalantly. After a short pause in the conversation, K.C. reached into his right breast pocket, pulled out a small spiral notebook and pen, and then started scribbling down his list. He finished with a flourish, ripping out the page and holding out the paper in front of him. Dom, Vince, and I looked at K.C. like he had grown a third head but no one made a move. Was this guy serious? I was still on the fence about trusting K.C., regardless of what he might teach us which made me wary. Apparently Dom and Vince trusted K.C. as much as I did.

"Is there a problem?" K.C. asked in his nonchalant tone again. Dom looked like he was torn between frustration and his desire to move forward with project nitrous. Vince however looked like he wanted to bludgeon K.C. and be done with the whole mess…less complicated that way. I wanted some cookies and to swing by Daphne's house before her curfew. _What?_ I have priorities too. I snatched the list out of K.C.'s hand, he laughed, and we called it a night.

Does anyone really make a conscious decision to turn to a life of crime? If I think about this moment twenty years from now, I would still be able to truthfully say that I didn't wake up this morning and say, "_Well, time to start a life of crime today! Make sure to eat your Wheaties!"_

We needed more cash. The sporadic racing wasn't going to cut it anymore. Well, to be fair, we weren't willing to wait that long to get back into the racing scene. The driving we had down pat. We needed nitrous to be competitive. Oddly enough, it was the driving that provided the opportunity for making some quick cash.

With K.C.'s list still stuck in my brain, I sped off to _The Racer's Edge_ on Thursday to have Harry price the additional parts. My mind was still trying to come up with a solution to our lack of money situation when I noticed that I was about to pass the store. Instinctively I checked my side view mirror, saw my way was clear, and lifted up the e-brake to execute a beautiful drift on a cheat. I smiled as I parked and hopped out of the car, pleased with my handiwork. Yes, I cheated on it by using the emergency break, but when in a pinch, I still had style. As I approached the front door to the shop however, I noticed Harry standing in the window as if he was waiting for me, talking to some guy who had clearly just witnessed my stunt. I took a deep breath, grabbed the handle, and entered the store with the intent to wait for Harry to finish when he called me over.

"Hey Han." _Oh crap_. Harry waved me over. I turned and resignedly walked over to the two men. "Han, I would like you to meet Bernie."

Bernie offered me his hand to shake. His grip was firm. Bernie was huge. He was a six foot three, two hundred and fifty pound black guy with rippling muscles and a bald head. Bernie also looked like he could knock you out with an accidental swipe of his massive hands. Bernie looked me in the eye with his big chocolate eyes before speaking to me in a quiet rumbling voice, "Nice execution." I grinned. Hey, I have a weakness for flattery just like most folks.

"So," he paused like he forgot my name.

"Han," Harry supplied quickly. He was grinning too. Something was up but I decided to play along.

"That's right, Han. So Han, you seem to have a pretty good command of your vehicle." Not a question, but a statement. I just stared at him with open curiosity. Where was he going with this? Finally I nodded to keep the conversation flowing. "You race." I nodded again. I really wanted Bernie to get to the point. He assessed me once with his eyes, turned to Harry who nodded, then spoke to me again. "You got needs."

For a moment there, I didn't nod or anything. I had known this guy for a second and a half and already he was telling me about my needs? Getting annoyed, I looked over to Harry who was still grinning in a way that was starting to look foolish. Bernie must have sensed that I was getting annoyed cause he looked at Harry again and shooed him away almost as if he were bored. Harry turned, motioning for me to follow him to the counter.

"So what can I do for ya today?" Harry asked jovially. I pulled the list out of my pocket, placing it on the counter between us.

"I'm trying to price these parts," I purposefully skirted around using the word _need_. Harry glanced at the list and started to look the prices up on the parts. Seeing it was going to take a few minutes, I turned and leaned against the counter, taking in the other patrons of the store. Harry's nerdy employee was helping out two random kids in a corner of the store, leaving Bernie as the only other patron in the store to look at. I sighed, folding my arms and crossing my legs at the ankles. Harry's friends were two for two in the weird department. Then I saw something that took all of my attention away from everything in the store, even the hulk of a man.

The door to the store opened and a woman stalked in. I say stalked because her five foot three frame was teetering on a pair of four inch heels that showed off her sexy legs. She was wearing a red pair of shorts that stopped two inches below her ample bottom and a sexy black halter that barely covered her equally ample top. She was super sexy with her short brown hair and red fingernails and toes. She was one of the sexiest women I had seen in a while. And it wasn't about how short or tight her clothes were. It was more the way she carried herself in her clothes. She screamed confidence, enough to intimidate me a little. For a few seconds, I debated whether I should go introduce myself and then reality came crashing down. The woman stopped, shook her hair out of her face, and Bernie walked over to whisper in her ear. She never smiled the whole time, but she did raise her eyes and look at me. _Great, she knows creepy Bernie_. The woman then made her way with Bernie over to the counter just as Harry tapped my shoulder to get my attention. I turned to look at him.

"This should help," Harry told me, sliding the list back with a tally of the parts.

"Harry didn't help you satisfy your needs," Bernie stated. Gosh he was getting real annoying. I turned to glower at him. These additional parts were going to cost an additional three grand. Doing a quick tally, the cost of these systems went from nine g's overall to eighteen. Where was the extra money going to come from? I didn't need this random guy pointing out the obvious to me.

"Thanks for your help Harry," I said, keeping my tone even. "Nice meeting you Bernie," I lied. Bernie's friend spoke to me as I pushed away from the counter and started to leave.

"Bernie says that you can satisfy my needs," she said in a sultry voice. I got a tingling sensation that ran through my body. I turned to look at her, my eyebrow raised in surprise at her proposition. She laughed and the tingling increased. She stalked towards me and whispered in my ear, "If you satisfy my needs, I can make sure I satisfy yours."

'_Woah. Was this chick for real?'_ My jaw dropped. I obviously was missing something. I knew my face was showing my shock because Bernie looked like he was holding back some laughter. I was too taken aback to close my mouth, well at least I thought it was open. I had lost all ability to reason. The woman tilted her head and looked at me pensively. Bernie finally spoke up.

"Han let's take a look at your ride." I couldn't tell if it was a request or a command. Either way, I knew that being outside would be one step closer to getting out of this bizarre situation. I pushed myself away from the counter and led the Bernie and the woman to my car. The three of us stood there in the late Cali sun, squinting at the dark blue paint job and waiting for someone to make a move. Finally I decided to cut my losses and leave.

"Um, thanks for the proposition," I said awkwardly. I was still feeling a bit wary of this woman. She finally smiled.

"How much money would it take to satisfy your needs Han," she said, the smile still on her face but her voice was all business. She, like Bernie, wasn't asking questions. They were making unnerving statements as if they could read my mind. I rubbed the list in my pocket instinctively. _'How much money would it take to satisfy my needs?'_ I asked myself. _'What about the combined needs of the team? What was eighteen minus three again? Fifteen g's! And what if I had needs in the future, how much would they cost?'_ Questions started swirling in my head. The woman spoke again.

"Not easy to come up with a definite figure huh." I mentally kicked myself for pausing too long.

"Not easy to get to the point is it," I retorted. I hadn't meant to sound so edgy but she and Bernie were really starting to irk my nerves. Bernie started smiling again.

"We need you to make a quick delivery," Bernie said, trying to keep the smile of his face at my obvious frustration. I frowned. This is usually the part where someone asks _'What kind of delivery?'_ and the creepy people reply _'Don't ask questions, just drive it/leave it and don't open the package!'_ Feeling contrary, I gave Bernie a quizzical look. I was not going to give in to the normal conversational script.

"Where and how much?" The woman laughed out loud.

"Impressive," she told me, taking a step towards the passenger side of the car, Bernie trailing behind her to open the door. I don't know what possessed me but I unlocked the door for her and she slid in. I took my place in the driver's seat, cranked the car and opened the windows. As I was putting on my seat belt, the woman leaned over and began to dig in my pocket for the list, her face close to mine, her breath moving some of the hairs near my left ear. I tensed up, still on edge from her earlier words, her blatant sexiness, and I had to admit her confident demeanor which turned me on. She found it, sat in her seat, and handed the list to Bernie who nodded.

"San Diego. Five g's. Let's go."

And I drove. It felt great to have the windows open, the breeze moving our hair, and me weaving in and out of traffic. Two hours later we pulled into the city limits and I turned to look at her for additional directions. She led me to a modest house on a nondescript street, fixing her hair when we stopped before motioning that I should help her out of the car. I held open her door then followed her into the house. She walked straight into the kitchen, sat on a stool and I knew that she had command here too. I leaned against the wall and watched her hold court. People came in to talk to her in low voices, some bringing papers to show her, others asking questions, very few looking curiously at me.

After about an hour of this, another man entered the house. He was built along the lines of Bernie: stocky, body builder, and fierce looking. The current nameless person sitting in front of the woman immediately stopped talking when Bernie Too walked in and stood back to give him room. The woman turned to him, smirked, and then gave me a sideways glance which the man mimicked. He helped her up off the stool and the sauntered over to me, his arm around her waist.

"Han, this is Wallace. Wallace will make sure you satisfy my needs." I nodded.

"Wallace, this is Han. You make sure that I satisfy Han's needs." Wallace nodded.

"Night Flora," Wallace told the woman. He motioned for me to follow him and moved towards the front door. We got to the front door and he stopped, whipping out his cell and handing it to me. I entered my cell number and hit send so his number would register on my phone. Wallace pulled out a shoe box, placed it in a bag labeled _The Racer's Edge _and handed it to me along with twenty Ben Franklins.

"Go see Harry tomorrow. Give him the bag." He didn't look like he was going to say anything else so I spoke up.

"Aren't I thirty Ben's light?" I had regained my nonchalant tone. If I was going to do a job, I wanted to be professional about it. It would be better to start off being extremely professional rather than play it like a dupe and get angry later.

"I don't care what you are doing. When I call, you come." I looked at him square in the face and gave my right hand a shake, causing him to look at the money in my hand. I did not want him to ignore what I was saying to him.

"Harry will have satisfied your list tomorrow," Wallace said, turning to walk away. I was dismissed. I got in my car and took off for L.A., making note of where I was in case I was ever asked to come back. I also got my first lesson that night from Flora and her motley cast of characters. I would get that three g's in parts from Harry. Two in the hand plus three in nitrous parts equals five to satisfy some needs. In other words: nothing comes for free.


	13. Court of Family Law

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Fast and The Furious. Nuff said.**

**Authors Note: Cheeky moment: Bolsa Ave and Magnolia street truly exist. Part of this story takes place near the area where Dom and Brian escape from the exploding supra in the first FATF. Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 13

"Han man, where you going?" Letty called out pushing herself off the hood of her car and striding over to me.

Everyone has a turning point in their lifetime. Every choice that you make at that defining moment in your life shapes how you will handle the future. Those choices will also dictate your future. Almost eight weeks had passed since that chance meeting with Bernie, Flora, and Wallace. I could tell the difference: Before Flora and After Flora. B.F. and A.F.

In 1 B.F. the train I boarded with Dom and Vince had been delayed so many times on our way to street racing glory that at one of the station stops I disembarked. In 1 A.F. I transferred to a different train. It was going to the same destination as the first train, but Wallace was the conductor and he required a lot of station stops. I didn't mind the stops, but it was becoming increasing difficult to brush off the rest of  
the team.

And that's why I was standing there in the middle of the abandoned parking lot at 11 pm jingling my keys while giving Letty a look that clearly conveyed that I was trying to scurry out of there. She apparently wasn't taking the bait.

"What's the rush?" Letty asked. I sighed but she persisted, "Aren't you going to wait till race is over?"

"_What for_?" I asked quizzically and a little louder than I meant to. I was trying to hurry this along so I could get going. Wallace was waiting for me and I didn't like to keep Wallace waiting. "Dom's just going to win it anyway."

Letty rolled her eyes at me, which was welcome. I didn't want to get into an argument about my _tone_. I knew what the eye roll was about too. Dom had begun to clean up at the races. The combination of his driving skill and after-market modifications had made him a force to be reckoned with. Couple that with his sound trouncing of Johnny Tran his first week back into racing, Dom was quickly becoming a crowd favorite. He was also showing us the "perks" of being in the winner's inner circle. One of those, as Letty had been pointing out lately, was his _tone_.

"So I'll hook up with ya'll later," I told her, inching my way back towards my car. She gave me a head nod.

"Yeah. _Whatever_," she replied in a slightly hostile manner that what would become a trademark of her at-race behavior. I knew she would want to chew me out for it later.

I don't know what possessed me, but I glanced in my rearview mirror as I peeled off. Big mistake. Daphne was standing there in my dust; hand on her hip, clearly peeved that I had just left her behind without a word. All I could do was sigh. This wasn't the first time I'd left her behind to satisfy Flora's needs. Tonight wouldn't be any different either. Here I was pulling a classic Dom: keep the people in my life as unaware of the situation as possible. There was no way I could hide the fact that I would come home with a sizeable amount of money. What I could control is who knew how I got that money.

Fifteen minutes later I pulled up to another random garage in LA. You know, I didn't realize there were so many nondescript garages in LA till I started frequenting them one by one. As I entered the lot, a garage door lifted and I knew that was my cue to back into the spot. Once inside, Wallace motioned for me to join him next to a black Evo.

"I need a distraction," Wallace said. It had been eight weeks and still no pleasantries.

"Where and how much?" Wallace smiled, handing me a slip of paper with two cross streets on it.

"Ten g's." I raised my eyebrows at this. After that initial run Flora gave me, I usually made closer to the two g range. Ten thousand dollars was enough to peak my curiosity.

"That's a pretty big distraction," I told him, trying to figure out what I would need to do to cause a distraction worthy of that price. A ride this expensive would definitely not be smooth.

"I expect it to be," Wallace told me cryptically. He strode over to the driver's side door of the Evo and opened it for me. I got in and he shut the door. Turning on the car, I could hear the purr of engine and the telltale sign that this was definitely not stock under the hood. I rolled down the window.

"Anything else?" I asked, working very hard to keep the excitement out of my voice. I was going to tear up the road in this bad boy.

"I wouldn't use the nitrous until I got to the intersection if I were you. We'll make sure your car is at your house when you get there," Wallace told me. I felt dread fill me. Usually he would tell me where to drop the car. If I was being dismissed without that information, that meant he wasn't expecting the car back. It was then that the train in my head started barreling out of control and I wanted off. I had put together the message Wallace was giving me. _Blow up the car at this intersection_. How was I going to survive an explosion when I didn't know how it was rigged up in the first place? I reached for the safety harness, preparing myself to start thinking of an escape plan immediately upon leaving the garage but Wallace stopped my hand.

"Anything else?" I parroted again, this time with agitation in my voice. Wallace shook his head.

"Flora's expecting you at _The Racer's Edge_ tomorrow. I would keep my harness off if I were you," Wallace told me. Then he walked away and I felt the pressure ease off my chest. I wasn't expected to die in this train wreck assignment. I drove out of the garage, and sped towards my destination: two seemingly random streets that would soon have a crazy guy racing through them and blowing up a car. I shook my head. What a shame they could just throw away this Evo. They should have used a Hyundai.

I sped towards Bolsa Avenue and Magnolia Street, drifting the street corners and generally acting like a loon. I wouldn't stop for traffic lights, using the horn to get people out of the way. I had decided that if I had to make a scene I was going to do it big. My diversion could be a racing blessing in disguise. If I was already making a whole bunch of noise across town, this would not only allow Wallace to conduct his business quietly, but allow everyone at the races to get in a few more events before heading to the after parties. I was right in my estimation. It only took seven red lights to get on the police radar. Soon I had a gaggle of the boys and girls in blue tailing me and the Evo. I didn't let them distract me, especially since they had a hard time catching me. I was still drifting corners so they were struggling to keep up with me.

I arched a left onto Bolsa Avenue and sped towards Magnolia Street, adrenaline pumping in my veins. I knew what I had to do. As I zoomed past the Vietnamese Cultural Court, gleaming white on my right hand side, I opened the driver's side door slightly, braced myself, and then pressed the nitrous button. I could feel the car slow down slightly, pushed the door wide, and tucked and rolled myself out of the car. If I had the time, I would have screamed at the pain of jumping out of a car that I had slowed to seventy miles an hour (hey, I wanted it to be believable but not totally kill myself jumping). But instead, the police just now turning the corner were distracted by the large explosion that occurred seconds after my exit. How they didn't notice me I would never know, but I knew it wouldn't last long.

Adrenaline pumping, I pushed myself up out of the gutter, hobbled into an alley and made my way two blocks away. That's when I noticed that the backs of my hands were scrapped and bleeding. I had a cut on my chin but my face had been mostly protected by my hands. And my right side really hurt. Crap. I think I broke a rib. Tenderly I pushed at my side. Oh man. It's not broken, but several of them, they're hella bruised. If I wasn't so scared that the cops would start canvassing the alleyways soon I would have lingered or cried to express my pain but I didn't have the luxury. Instead I propelled myself to a phone booth at the next street, crawled in, and went to pull out my cell phone. Oh good, I only cracked the phone into three hundred pieces. At least that would explain why I felt the stabbing of jagged pieces in my pocket.

Delirious I pushed myself off the floor of the booth and started dialing. As the phone rang I vaguely recognized that I didn't have any money. I really should have thought about the pain _before_ I jumped from a speeding vehicle.

"Caller, say your name," the cool voice from the phone asked me.

"Bleeding, Little Saigon, phone near mumble mumble," I garbled the name of the random garage that I was facing. Great I would be the one to run into yet another random garage in LA while I was bruised and bleeding. I waited a second before I hung up. Ten seconds later, the phone rang. I picked it up.

"What do you mean, '_oh shit'. _Who is it Dom?" I heard Letty stressing in the background.

"Han?" Dom said in a quiet voice. I knew he was hoping that I was not me, that I was a wrong number or a crank call. I felt bad that I would have to validate the fear in his voice. Letty must have noticed Dom's stress of my name because the background sounds seemed to fall away.

"Still bleeding, come get me," I pushed out as if it were straining me to say that much. "Please," I begged. I was really starting to hurt. Maybe I shouldn't have walked away from the scene. There were ambulances there now, trying to save a person who wasn't there.

"Where are you?" Dom's voice had risen in pitch. He was starting to sound panicked. I started rambling again. I could hear the wind rushing around and I knew he must be racing to his car. Sure enough I heard the car door open, slam, and the engine fire up. I succumbed to the vomits. I had been itching to do this from the moment I put my hand on the Evo's door handle. Dom heard me. "Hang on. I'm on my way."

Afterwards I passed out. When I came to, I was in the back seat of Dom's car, my head in Letty's lap and Vince in the passenger's seat white as a sheet. Vince kept turning his head to stare at me in twenty second intervals. I closed my eyes because he was making me dizzy. Letty flicked my ear and I opened my eyes to look at her.

"I dare you to close your eyes again you concussed mother…"

"Letty, leave him alone," Dom said quietly.

"She's right you know," Vince piped up. Dom glanced at Vince and back at the road.

"Yeah, but look at him. She doesn't have to curse and hurt his feelings too," Dom said grumpily. I expelled a large breath and a small laugh escaped. Letty grinned and a tear fell from her eye. I knew that was the most emotion I was going to get from her tonight from her sad department.

"What do you think I'm a do when I get home?" I asked her taking shallow breaths. Yep, bruised ribs. They hurt like heck.

"You're not going home like that!" Dom exclaimed.

"Yeah dipsh…" Dom punched Vince in the arm. "Sorry. What do you think this is? We're not leaving you alone like that."

I started to push myself up. I absolutely did not want to go to a hospital and have to explain why I looked like I had jumped from a moving vehicle. It was bad enough without getting busted for my spectacular distraction.

"Easy there maestro," Letty told me.

"Yeah, we're not taking you to the hospital," Vince added.

"Although later I want the story on how you orchestrated whatever that disturbance was at Bolsa and Magnolia," Dom continued.

"And, don't fix your mouth to utter in falsetto how you didn't do it," Letty rounded out.

"Cause that scene had you plastered all over it," Vince told me.

"And your injuries plus proximity near the scene are damning," Dom finished. I was really out of it because I was just noticing that Dom was pulling into his driveway. He had brought me to his house so they could all watch over me. I wish they would have moved a bit slower, but Vince and Dom helped me crawl out of the car, then frog marched me up the stairs into the house, then down the stairs into the basement. There was a small room with spare bed down here that Mr. T had finally caved in to build after realizing his home was becoming a safe haven for Vince. Frankly I think he was getting tired of coming down to watch the morning news and finding Vince sprawled out on his couch instead. They laid me on the bed then Letty began to help me out of my shoes and jacket.

"Letty, go upstairs and grab the first aid kit and some water," Dom ordered. Letty paused at his _tone_ but he gave her an angry look then gestured for her to acquiesce to his request just this once without question. Huffing, Letty retreated upstairs to grab the supplies. Even at a time like this with a guy who was more brother to her than anything else, Dom's jealousy was able to rise up in him. I raised an eyebrow to which he replied with a shrug.

"I don't want my girlfriend stripping another guy down, even if it is just you," Dom said, helping me get my shirt and pants off. Vince scowled then surveyed the damage. I was going to be a Technicolor rainbow by tomorrow. My chin scrape had crusted over and my hands had slowed to an occasional trickle. I knew my breath smelled slightly from my bout of the vomits. I was bleeding from some small cuts where the cell phone had shattered in my pocket. But the best injury by far was my right side where I was turning purple around my ribs. At some point Letty came back and pressed the supplies in Vince's hands before rushing off again mumbling something about getting an icepack for my bruising.

Before I knew it Vince had me cleaned up as best as possible, Dom had forced me to down two aspirin with a glass of water, and Letty had tucked me in. It felt like a moment but six hours later I awoke in a cold sweat, my side throbbing painfully. Moving gingerly, I put on my clothes and forced myself upstairs. I called a cab and went home. Thankfully everyone at the Toretto house was sleeping because I needed to go see Flora at _The Racer's Edge_ and without my phone, I didn't want to risk sleeping in and missing her.

The ride to the store was agony, even with another two aspirin in me. I got to the door just as Flora and Bernie pulled up. She took one look at me then walked into the store. I knew to follow. At the counter, Flora handed Harry the money which he then slid into a parts box, shielded from view by the counter. Harry handed me the part with a smile and I went through the motions as if I were truly paying for the part. That way, anyone just walking along or driving past the window wouldn't see a suspicious scene.

"Get some rest Han, you look like you've been in a fist fight," Flora told me, pushing a pair of expensive sunglasses onto her face then sauntering out into the car with Bernie. I waited for them to leave the parking lot then smiled at Harry who didn't smile back. For the first time, he looked a bit sick. I don't think he was expecting to get me injured while satisfying Flora's needs. But I had known in the car that no ride was ever smooth or free. This was the price I had to pay to earn ten thousand dollars in one night.

Heaving, I made it back to my house. I just wanted more aspirin and some sleep. But as I started walking up the drive, three cars pulled behind me. Dom popped out of the first one, Vince out of the second, Letty and Daphne out of the third. _Great_. Just what I needed, let the nagging begin. I kept plodding along till I reached my front porch.

"Ya know, if you'd have walked you could have surprised me," I drawled. No one was amused.

"You were supposed to stay at the house," Dom said, his anger restrained.

"I wanted clean underpants," I spat out, thinking on my feet. His brows drew in and his mouth began to thin into a line.

"What happened to you?" Daphne asked aghast. She looked creeped out. Wait, I forgot that she wasn't with them when the others came to pick me up last night. Daphne came to sit beside me on the step, turning so her left leg was behind my back. Leaning into me, I could smell her perfume. I suddenly felt on edge.

"Yeah, what happened to you brother?" Vince questioned. I sighed.

"I got in a fist fight," I told them, hoping they would drop it.

"That's crap and you know it," Letty said, "so cut the shit and tell us what's up."

"I…" I started but a delivery truck pulled up in front of my house. The delivery guy walked towards me with a small package, asked for me, and made me sign for it.

"You might want to open it. It's been singing since I got it," the delivery guy told me before returning to his truck and driving away. Not to disappoint the package started singing again. I opened the box and out tumbled a brand new cell phone. It started ringing again. How movie cliché of them.

"Hello."

"Think of this as a bonus for a great diversion last night," Flora said.

"Thanks, it was no problem," I lied. She laughed. She knew I was lying.

"Trust me, you left me very satisfied," she told me. It took me a couple seconds to realize that she had hung up. I had a goofy grin on my face too.

"Who was that?" Daphne asked suspiciously.

"A friend," I said.

"Some friend to give you a phone like that," Dom said.

"I'd start talking," Letty added. They were ganging up on me. I did not want them to board this train no matter how much they banged on the closing doors. Daphne noticed I was getting agitated and she started rubbing circles on my back. I sat up straight. It felt like electricity was shooting up my back and through my body.

"Look, I don't want to talk about it."

"So whose car did you crash last night?" Vince asked out of left field. It caught me off guard.

"You crashed a car?" Daphne asked me. She had breathed the question across my ear and face. It tickled me.

"NO," I spat out.

"We saw the wreckage on the news of the car fire," Dom supplied.

"I didn't crash a car," I said vehemently.

"Don't lie Han," Letty pressed.

"I'm not lying Letty," I spat out, clearly irritated. I really wanted that aspirin.

"Are you running drugs?" Again Vince was throwing out the difficult questions. I stared at him open mouthed and he sniffed, his arms folded across his chest, daring me to prove him wrong. I couldn't speak.

"It does fit," Dom added. "Disappearing at odd times, the money, nervous behavior, secrecy from your family," he ticked off, pointing at the four of them as he said the last part.

"I am not running drugs," I told them. I felt Daphne scoot closer to me and whisper to me.

"So what is going on?" I could feel her taking her breaths against my arm, her chest heaving in and out slowly.

"Look, I got in a fist fight. Believe what you want," I said. I looked over at Daphne, caught her licking her lips and immediately felt myself go from thirty percent to one hundred in the turned on department. Yep, injured I still was a guy. "And what the hell are you wearing?"

Daphne sat back, "Clinique Happy." Damn orange box and citrus smells.

"I'm going to bed." I got blank stares. Trying to salvage my rapidly fraying temper, I tried a different tact. Standing, I made my way to the front door. "Look you can come in, but I really need to lie down," I told them, grabbing hold of Daphne's hand and walking up the stairs. I made my way into my darkened room, crawled in and pulled Daphne with me. I was surprised that she came willingly, lying on her back with me lying next to her on my stomach, my left arm holding her close and my head on her left shoulder. Just when I closed my eyes, I heard three sets of footsteps trampling up the stairs. I guess they had decided to regroup and try from a different angle too. Vince slouched against the door frame, Letty took the chair by the window, and Dom leaned against my dresser facing the bed.

"Han, I can understand your desire to keep things secret," Dom began, "but if you are doing something that is risking your life or dragging this family into it, then you need to give us something to work with." I  
couldn't fault his logic. That was fair after all.

"We'd rather the whole truth from you," Letty stated. I grinned into Daphne's shoulder. I knew Letty was scowling and trying to reign in her exasperation.

"I can even respect if you can't tell us the whole truth," Daphne added.

"But explain the car bomb," Vince added. Daphne stiffened beside me and I raised my arm to flip him the bird. "What?" Vince asked bewildered. "It's getting so a guy can't ask a simple question…" he started to mumble. The backs of my eyes started to pound. _Could telling them some of the truth hurt them? _Possibly. _Would it get them off my back?_ Hell yeah.

"Just to be clear, what I say doesn't leave this room. Additionally, no one will get the bright idea to follow me just because they are in the know." I didn't need to wait to hear their assent. I knew that I could trust them. I confided in them that I was given a task and I had completed that task by committing the ultimate car crime: willing destruction of a proper ten second car. I did leave names out to protect the criminally innocent to include Harry. For some reason I didn't want to tarnish the repartee the team had with him.

"Dang and I thought I had demons," Vince said darkly as I finished the story. Dom looked extremely guilty as if he had forced me to become a deviant. I knew what was on his mind. I had paid for the parts in our cars with dirty money. He didn't know whether to yell or cry. But that was Dom for you. He was always assuming responsibility over those in his solar system. Letty crossed the room to stand in front of Dom, pulling his face down to meet hers squarely.

"Dom, don't do this. _Han_ got himself into this and _he_ will get himself out when _he's _ready," she said coldly. Dom looked disbelievingly. She turned to look at me. "I better be tellin' the truth Han." I nodded. And she had nerve to tell me about _my_ tone. I looked over at Daphne who had her mouth wide open before finally speaking in astonishment.

"I can't believe you blew up the Evo!"


	14. West Coast Party

**A/N: I apologize for being so delinquent. FYI: This chapter is fluffy for a reason. It's to set me up for the next chapter. You have been warned.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Fast and the Furious or its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 14: West Coast Party

As May turned into June, school ended and my ribs healed. Dom, Vince, and I were also starting to feel like we'd arrived at the station stop for kings of the streets. Well our attitudes gave off that vibe at any rate. Dom was constantly getting told off about his _tone_. He was also finding that he drew crowds every time he even showed up at races. He claimed he didn't care whether the crowd cheered him on or not, but every week he would play into this hyped up persona that the crowd could get behind. You know the type: extreme alpha male that oozes testosterone. He was living that idea that the boys wanted to be him and the girls wanted to do him. I couldn't fault him since it was the truth, but I also agreed with Letty that he could be less of an asshole to us at races.

Vince had become this brooding, mysterious, bad ass that chicks seemed to dig. Well to be honest Vince had always been brooding, mysterious, and a bad ass but he'd never paid attention to the effect that had on girls until now. Now he was keeping up with a steady stream of girls that would have rivaled Dom pre-Letty. Vince was more of a rock star in a way: too cool for everyone around him, not caring about anyone not in his inner circle, yet continually gathering the choicest morsels of female attention almost without effort.

I was getting a lot more notice as the silent, stoic type. I would show up, act the part of the nonchalant observer, then spend half the night being paraded past by a gaggle of girls. Do not be confused! I enjoyed watching the parade regardless of how bored I looked, but I enjoyed the comfort of knowing that Daphne would respect my munchies while I raced. If we were sitting together then she would pilfer as many as she wanted, but she always held them for me when I was racing and refused to eat them unless I was there to share.

This particular Friday in June I walked up to the front steps of the Toretto house at a quarter to midnight. Behind me tuned-up racer cars lined the block on both sides and I could hear the music thumping through the door before I opened it. I grinned. Mr. Toretto must have qualified at his race this afternoon and gone directly to Arizona for a two day racing series over the weekend. It was only natural that Dom would throw a party in his absence. After all, there was no better way to solidify our position in the racing world than to throw an awesome winner's circle after party. Plus I knew better than to pretend that Dom didn't win his race tonight. Bracing myself I opened the door to a mass of bodies, the sound of music mixed with an odd wailing riff, and a roar of random people greeting me.

First I walked into the living room to investigate the screeching sound I heard competing with the music. In the corner was Vince with a blond girl sitting on his lap kissing his neck. He'd propped his guitar on her lap that he was strumming haphazardly. Apparently his rock star persona was convincing him that he should play the guitar. He was sadly mistaken but then again as a joint king of the streets he was allowed some transgressions, poor musical talent being one of them. He looked up from the guitar for a minute, recognized me, and gave me a head nod. I nodded back but kept it moving since Vince was busy.

Turning around, I found myself surrounded by three girls. They were definitely digging my racer persona. I looked bored, they giggled. The one on the right took a drink of Corona, held it in her mouth then pressed the bottle into my right hand. The girl in the middle held up a lime slice, placed it rind side into her mouth leaving the fruit exposed to me. The girl on my left ran her fingers through my hair then asked me to drink the Corona and not forget the lime. Man these chicks were bold. And here comes the part where one might think for an instant that it might be cool to kiss the girl on the right to drink the Corona, kiss the girl in the middle to get a taste of the lime, and kiss the girl on the left just because. For a wild moment I contemplated it then I brushed the girl's hand out of my hair, pressed the Corona into her hand, and walked away through the crowd towards the kitchen. It wasn't worth the twenty seconds of cheap thrill to threaten the safety of my at race munchies by disrespecting Daphne.

I continued to push my way through the crowd. Once I made it to the kitchen, I ran into Mia. She looked confused but happy as if her brain was working overtime. I knew she was starting to put together the pieces of the puzzle where the racing was concerned. It was hard for her not to notice that people were all dressed up and they all seemed to have race worthy cars. What's more, they worshiping the ground Dom walked on and talking about cars and racing. I knew that Dom would have a lot of explaining to do tomorrow. I looked at Mia who nodded at me. She was talking to Hector's cousin Carmen and seemed to be holding her own so I kept moving.

Finally, with some effort I got into the hallway. _Oh for Heaven's sake!_ Letty and Dom were in the hallway making out. He had her pinned between his body and the wall and she had her arms around his neck. If she could have scaled his body like a mountain I am sure she would have. People were walking around them, some stopping to stare, and others looking envious while trying to rush past it. I was going to give them ten more seconds before they were making adult movies in here. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six…damn. I guess they weren't going to make the movie right here. Dom lifted his head, turned his head to the right and spotted me. He gave me a cocky grin and a head nod. Letty saw this and punched him in his stomach making him turn back to her and smile. Bending his head, he whispered in her ear and she gave him a sideways grin, grabbed his hand then led him up the stairs. Randy young people.

Rolling my eyes, I started walking back towards the front door and saw Daphne to my right, leaning over the railing. She was smirking at Dom and Letty who were climbing the stairs behind her. I suppressed a grin, keeping my bored look in place but I couldn't help but feel pride at how much Daphne had changed. She had on a dark orange halter dress with a white stripe around her waist, her hair was flowing over her shoulders, and a bottle of Corona dangling from her fingers. I couldn't look at her much longer without letting my emotions show so I turned and placed myself against the railing, letting her arms trail over my shoulders.

"Thirsty?" she whispered in my ear. I went to reach for the bottle but she swung it away from me, tilting it in the direction of the three girls I'd brushed off earlier. They were standing in the middle of the floor offering the same drink to Sam who didn't have a problem taking a generous swig. I didn't acknowledge her question and she laughed. For a moment there I thought she was angry. I gave the bottle a small tug and she let me take it from her.

"Who told Vince he could play?" I asked, referencing Vince's continued poor performance on the guitar.

"The same people who told Mia she could dance," Daphne choked out, caught between taking in a breath and laughing. Looking over I saw Mia moving her limbs in what was supposed to simulate dancing but looked like she was shooing away the plague of locusts. I shook my head and Daphne slid her hand down my chest to reach in my breast pocket and remove my munchies.

"Ya know, you keep eating like that and you'll be rounder than an orange," I breezed out. I wasn't trying to be mean and she knew it. It was all about the preservation of my snack. I could feel her grinning as she opened them and started crunching in my ear.

"Gesture of good faith?" Daphne asked, offering me my own snacks. She had some nerve. I wiggled the bottle near her free hand.

"Even trade?" After a few seconds of contemplation, we traded items.

"Dang, ya'll is worse than kids at lunch time," Hector said as he walked up to us and shook my hand. "So where's the man of the hour?" I raised my eyebrows and Hector chuckled. That's right, dumb question. Ask another. "So where were you tonight Holmes?" Wrong question. Ask another.

"Hey who was the new guy that was racing tonight?" Daphne asked quickly to cover the fact that I wasn't answering Hector's questions.

"What? The skinny dude with brown hair?" Hector replied.

"Yeah him," she said before pushing herself up and coming to stand in front of Hector and me.

"Lester, or Lenny, or something like that," Hector started to rattle of a list of 'L' names. I winked at Daphne who grinned and leaned on me so I could rest my arm on her shoulder.

"What's he running," I asked to keep the conversation progressing.

"Skyline," Hector said grinning. I understood how a no-name freshman got into the race. Those cars were respectable.

"It was a boxy looking car and he was driving on the wrong side," Daphne supplied as if I didn't know what the car looked like. For a moment I looked down at her raising my eyebrow again in the process. She turned her face up to me and grinned. She was teasing me. _Jerk_.

"Get a chance to look at it?" I asked Hector who shook his head.

"Nah. He came late, left early," he said unconsciously rubbing his hands together. "I plan on taking a peek next time he shows up."

"That's _if_ he shows up," Daphne added.

"Oh he'll show up again. Third didn't agree with him," Hector replied before waving goodbye and disappearing in to the crowd. Daphne pushed herself closer to me and I looked down at her again. She yawned in my face.

"Wow," I said dryly which made her grin. I bent over slightly to whisper in her ear, "Bedtime?"

Daphne nodded at me and I took her hand, leading her up the stairs. As we made it to the second floor, I heard footsteps running behind us and seconds later Mia stood at the top of the stairs, gasping for breath.

"You all aren't leaving me with all those people downstairs," she huffed throwing her arm in a gesture that was meant to encompass the people downstairs. I gave her a blank stare. She sighed. "Han, can't you tell them to leave?"

"What do I look like, the police?"

"Han," Daphne said in a tone that was exasperated. I rolled my eyes and trekked back downstairs to find Vince standing at the foot of the stairs.

"I think it's time for people to leave," I told him. Looking over the crowd I understood why Mia had left. There were a lot of rowdy people down here: dancing on the coffee tables, making out on couches, passed out in the hallways. Vince cracked his knuckles and surveyed the crowd in preparation of playing crowd control.

"YO! EVERYBODY ROLL OUT!" Vince yelled to the house at large. Someone stopped the music. For a moment people looked like they didn't know what to do. "YA DEAF? GO HOME!" he yelled again. People saw him flex his muscles and got the hint that there wouldn't be a third warning. Slowly but steadily the crowd filed out of the house, cars roared up in the streets, and within ten minutes, the place was cleared out. The house was a wreck, but then what can you expect from a bunch of teens and twenty-something's at a west coast party? Vince and I walked around the house, locking up windows and doors then we parted ways: Vince heading downstairs with the tone-deaf blond he'd had in his lap earlier and I upstairs back to Daphne. Reaching the landing, I bumped into Mia again who was smiling.

"Thanks Han," she smirked, pointing to her bedroom while making her way to Mr. T's room down the hall.

"Night Mi," I replied, opening the door to find Daphne already asleep in Mia's bed. Careful not to wake her, I undressed and slowly crawled in next to her, holding her in my arms as I let sleep overtake me.

* * *

The following morning I found myself in a tangle of arms and legs with my cell phone ringing incessantly. I felt like I hadn't slept at all. It took me thirty seconds of fumbling to find the phone which had stopped ringing and then immediately picked back up.

"Yo," I said feeling like this better be really good.

"Han?"

"Wallace?"

"Meet me at _The Racer's Edge_," Wallace told me, hanging up. I knew that meant that I was supposed to show up right away. Sighing I rolled out of bed and looked at the clock. WTF? Six a.m.? It was times like these that I could really throw this job down the drain. Looking over my shoulder I caught a glimpse of Daphne, her mouth slightly open and her face relaxed in sleep. I _really_ wanted to get back in bed.

It took me fifteen minutes to get to the store and drive around to the back. It was too early for a car to be sitting out front with any credibility. Wallace came to my door, motioning for me to open my window.

"In bed with someone famous?" That was an odd question so I didn't answer. "It took you long enough to get here." That's when I latched on.

"Wasn't at home." It should have taken me seven or eight minutes to get here from my house. The Toretto's lived slightly further. Wallace raised an eyebrow then handed me my money from last night. Three g's to supervise a delivery of a questionable nature from several warehouses in LA to Harry. It had taken the better part of the night to get around to all of those places, hence the reason I missed the races the night before.

"Spend wisely. You've earned a break," Wallace told me. I was shocked.

"I didn't know we earned vacation time," I told him. Wallace gave me a ghost of a smile.

"Flora thinks you may have fulfilled your needs for the moment. Don't want you to get complacent," Wallace said. Yeah right. They didn't want me to get too cocky or too sloppy. I wasn't too hurt by the vacation time though since I had saved almost twenty g's in the last couple of months. Granted, that distraction had been a welcome influx of cash. Nodding to Wallace, I wheeled around and returned to the Toretto household, slipping back in and underneath the covers without anyone missing me.

"You had to work this morning," came a sleepy voice from under my arms. _Crap_.

"Got vacation time," I replied. Daphne turned in my arms so we were facing each other.

"Vacation time?"

"Yeah, apparently I get benefits too," I joked. Daphne pinched me.

"What was that for?"

"Next you'll be telling me that ya'll have a union," she told me, snuggling her face into my chest. I sighed.

"Could you not nag me during me vacation?" That earned me another pinch.

Somewhere between the pinching and carrying on we started talking a lot less and kissing a lot more. I don't think I will ever forget the first time Daphne and I had sex, mostly because I passed out for four hours afterward. But to be fair, I did wake up at _six_ so cut me some slack.


	15. The Permanence of Finality

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Fast and the Furious or it's characters. 'Nuff said.**

Chapter 15 – The Permanence of Finality

There are always those moments that you will remember with finality. For the school beauty queen it's winning prom queen. For a racer it's winning a race. For Mr. Toretto it would be winning the last race in the pro stock circuit. We were all getting excited because we all knew with finality that Mr. T was going to be champion of the season.

I was still on vacation two weeks later which meant I was spending most of my time in the garage with Dom, Vince, and Mr. Toretto. We were all working on our cars for upcoming races. Well to be fair, Mr. T still didn't know about our afterhours racing so he thought we were tweaking for practice that afternoon at the track. Letty was missing this morning which in itself was odd. She and Dom were usually not out of each other's company longer than the few hours her parents forced her to come home to sleep since they'd started dating. For a serial dater, Dom didn't seem to mind the focused attention Letty gave him and was comfortable giving her focused attention right back. Well it was more like focused attention left over after racing and his car. Thankfully Letty was into cars too so she wasn't jealous.

Daphne and Mia, not being mechanically inclined, decided that they would check out whatever it is that excites girls on the internet. Apparently that wasn't much for Daphne was tapping my leg with her foot one hour later requiring me to push the creeper from underneath my car. Perhaps it was the after effects of us going at it like rabbits wearing on my brain, but it took me a few minutes to realize she was talking to me. I had been staring at her legs which were visible past the hem of some navy one piece short set outfit. She was wearing an orange and white stripped belt and I was trying to figure out if (a) the color combination was offensive enough for me to comment on it and (b) how she was keeping the top up since it didn't have any straps.

"Are you listening to me?" She said, moving over to straddle me and the creeper.

"Yeah," I replied, placing my hands on the outside of her legs.

"No," she shot back but I noticed she had her head tilted sideways as if she was contemplating something. After a moment, she sat on my stomach. "Han, can you breathe?"

"Barely."

"I was telling you that Mia and I are going to the beach with Carmen and a couple of her friends and not to wait for me tonight."

"You're going to chill with Carmen tonight?" I whispered, Daphne knowing that I was talking about races.

"No, I am going home tonight," she replied standing up and walking towards Mia who was standing impatiently by the door. I followed her.

"You're coming tomorrow?"

"Of course I'm coming to Mr. Toretto's race tomorrow," she said conversationally then she leaned in to whisper to me, "but you're wearing me out."

I didn't mean to laugh out loud but I did. Daphne gave me a half exasperated smile, pecked me on the lips, and left with Mia who rolled her eyes at me. I went back to working on my car and for the next two hours there was only the grunt of tools and straining muscles in the garage. It was only when Letty showed up around one that we pulled ourselves away from our vehicles and tore into the sandwiches she had brought.

"Coming to the track with us?" Mr. T asked Letty.

"Yeah, but I want to show you something first," she replied. Curious Vince stopped mid-bite, mouth full of food to look at her.

"You got a surprise for me?" Mr. T asked in a teasing voice.

"Not quite," Letty said slyly. Dom looked curious and I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious too. Rising, Letty motioned for us to follow her outside where we were quickly accosted by the sight of a silver Nissan s14. The previous owner clearly wasn't a good driver if the various dents and dings were any indication.

"Um what is that?" Vince asked his laughter noticeable under his words.

"This is my new car," Letty said proudly. I could dig that.

"That's great Letty. It has potential," I told her.

"You put some work in it," Mr. T started.

"Some _serious_ work," Dom smirked.

"Yes mija," Mr. T said slapping Dom on the back of the head, "some serious work into the car and you will be proud of the outcome." Letty grinned, the approval from Mr. T clearly like gold.

"Let, are there at least redeeming qualities under the hood?" Vince asked still grinning. Letty punched him in the arm.

"Look, I'm just happy that I purchased my first car," Letty said. Dom and I nodded our approval. As far as first cars go, she had picked one that could definitely work into something race worthy.

"Hey, if you're going with me to the track we need to leave now," Mr. T announced at large. Turning back towards the garage, I looped my arm around Letty's neck and we fell behind the others.

"So how did you afford a ride on your salary here?" I asked casually. Letty laughed realizing I was being nosey.

"I saved some from here, some I got from my parents, and I bought the car off someone who was both ignorant of cars and partial to a pretty face," Letty replied. We both laughed out loud. I knew then that she had played the poor sucker that sold her the car. Dom turned around at the sound of our laughter, a small frown on his face. Don't let anyone fool you into thinking Letty was the only one that could get jealous in this relationship. Dom was clearly feeling some, however misguided, at this very moment.

"Yo, you riding with me or what?" Dom yelled across the garage. Everyone knew he was talking to Letty and I could feel her tense up to say no. She wanted to ride with him, but she wanted him to know that he couldn't push her around either. To help her save face, I let her go and pushed her towards him. Grinning wisely, Mr. T got in his car and we each followed suit, riding out to the track for our final bit of after practice fun for the season.

* * *

Saturday dawned sunny and warm. We were all excited to be at the final race of the pro-stock racing circuit. Mr. Toretto was a favorite to win so it made our little corner of the stadium rowdier and noisier than normal.

"So Dom you think you'll race on the circuit?" Daphne asked as we were waiting for the race to start.

"When my Dad retires yeah," he replied. Mia rolled her eyes.

"Afraid to take on your old man?" Vince teased.

"Nah, he wouldn't be able to beat Dad so he's not going to try," Mia said shrewdly. Dom ruffled her hair.

"It's good you don't depend on Mia to boost your confidence," Daphne grinned.

"Please, as if his head needs and more swelling," Letty added. Dom turned and gave her a prissy look.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dom asked in a low growl.

"Hey Dom, watch your _tone_," I teased. Dom flexed his neck.

"Oh look, the race is getting ready to start," Mia pointed out unnecessarily to end Dom's suffering.

And there he was, Mr. Toretto, sitting on the line in the black charger and we went back to cheering. As the race started our excitement rose. Mr. Toretto was steadily carving himself a lead. One minute he was in tenth, then next in fourth. And then we were in the last lap and he was in first. Linder was behind him, trying to catch up. Meanwhile we had abandoned our seats and were jumping around, cheering Mr. Toretto on. And then it happened. In the final turn, Linder came from the inside and clipped the bumper of the charger. In an instant, the charger hit the wall. Dom started screaming. It was a horrible sound, like someone caught between a wail, disbelief, confusion, and death. Time seemed to suspend as we watched emergency teams make their way to the crumpled heap that looked like it couldn't hold a small child inside, let alone a fully grown man like Mr. Toretto. It was a scene that shouldn't have gotten worse but it did. Seconds before they closed in on the wreck the charger burst into flames. The only one of us making any sound was Dom. Dom was still screaming but the rest of us were too horrified to breathe. We knew with finality that Mr. T was gone and there was nothing we could do to change that.

* * *

Over the next three days, Dom barely talked to any of us. No one blamed him or pushed him. He was angry and distraught and understandably so. Within a few seconds he'd gone from carefree young adult to head of his household. The responsibility was overwhelming for him. Vince stepped up, helping Dom plan the funeral. It was decided that Mr. Toretto would be cremated and we would hold a small ceremony with his crew and our respective families invited. Mia cried horribly the whole time. Her grief ate away at the little bit of resolve that most of us had been holding on to. Dom held her close to him but he didn't speak and he didn't cry. We could tell it was eating him alive, especially with Mia's sobbing, but he never responded beyond his stony look of hopeless acceptance. Letty rubbed Dom's back intermittently throughout the ceremony but only succumbed to tears for a few moments when they scattered Mr. T's ashes. Letty was trying to be strong for Dom but for all of his response, we couldn't tell if it was helping him or not.

After the funeral, Dom, Mia, Letty, Vince, Daphne and I went to lunch. I was just thankful that Vince had enough sense to know that a large scale meal with everyone invited would have prolonged the inevitable goodbye we had given Mr. T. We all picked at our food but nobody really talked or ate which surprised no one at our table. After ten minutes of this, Dom finally broke his silence.

"Dad left me the businesses." Mr. T, in an effort to diversify his business portfolio, had owned a small convenience/café in addition to the garage.

"What about the house?" Mia asked, her voice sounding small.

"He left you the house." Mia didn't respond further than a sigh. She loved that house but I think she realized that owning a house at 16 wasn't going to be easy. Dom continued, "Thankfully the mortgages are paid up with Dad's insurance."

"Still running a business isn't cheap Dom," I said, careful to keep my voice light.

"Yeah, that's why I want to ask you, Vince, and Letty if you want jobs at the garage."

"Of course man," Vince said immediately. I nodded my agreement and Letty reached over to hold Dom's hand. What they shared didn't need words.

"I'm going to sell the store," Dom said quietly. Mia looked at him in alarm.

"No Dom!" Mia spat out. "You can't sell it. You just can't…" her voice trailed off and she started breathing deeply clearly keeping her tears in.

"Look, I don't know how to run one business let alone two," Dom began but Mia cut him off.

"You can't sell what's left of Daddy." Sighing, Dom looked at the table helplessly. I knew it was eating him up inside to see Mia so upset but he was struggling for a solution. Being in charge for three days didn't make him an expert by any stretch of the imagination.

"Why don't you hire someone to manage the café?" Letty asked. Dom looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "What? It was just a suggestion," she grumbled in response.

"That's a good idea," Mia piped up clearly willing to cling onto any thread of hope.

"I don't think I can afford to hire someone to run the store Mi," Dom replied heavily.

"I don't think you know anyone you can trust to run the store unsupervised Dom," Vince interjected. It gave us pause. It was true that Dom would need to be able to trust the person running any part of his business affairs to make sure he didn't get robbed blind.

"Well I could run the café Dom," Mia started.

"Maybe with some help," Daphne added.

"You're sixteen Mi," Letty told her but Dom cut her off.

"And ya ain't quitting school," Dom finished.

"Well we ain't getting rid of the store either," Mia retorted hotly.

"And we've all got school Dom," Daphne added.

"But it's still summer right now. Let's figure out today," Vince cut in, clearly agitated at our lack of decision making. Thankfully, the waitress returned with the check. We paid then headed back to the Toretto's house. For whatever reason, we didn't revisit the subject that night. We expected there would be time enough for that discussion anyway.

* * *

By the end of that first week, Dom still hadn't come up with a permanent plan for what to do about anything beyond the garage. He had woken up for the past three days and gone to the garage in an effort to establish some normalcy. There he would toil away at the problems he could manage: oil and filter changes, tire changes, etcetera. Letty, Vince, and I were beside him working to fulfill the promises we each made to help him out. At least here in the garage we were taking things day by day, never giving voice to discussion of tomorrow.

Meanwhile Mia had taken on the challenge of showing Dom how much she could do to keep the convenience store open without his help. She confessed to me that if she showed Dom that she could manage the day to day of the store, he would have no choice but to let her keep it open once school started. Daphne was there with Mia to help out which freed the rest of us to pretend that we didn't need to make any long term plans. The two of them could pour over ideas and long term plans without interfering with the sanctuary of false ignorance Dom let us set up at the garage.

Monday morning Dom called me early on my cell, waking me from an exhausted sleep. The previous night we had begun to do some simple inventory work so we would know what parts we needed to order to get our more steady jobs done. I was so tired from lifting, carrying, cleaning, and trying to estimate what we needed versus what we could afford that I fell asleep instantly upon getting into bed yesterday. I was still tired and for a moment I had forgotten that I promised to go with Dom to the supplier to place the order. After assuring Dom that I would meet him at the garage in twenty minutes, I forced myself to take a quick shower before heading out. Once we returned from the supplier's warehouse, we joined Letty and Vince in the ritual of tuning cars. The clanking of tools only stopped when Vince's stomach had decided it was time for lunch.

"You coming Dom?" Vince asked impatiently.

"Where you going?" Dom asked, still tinkering under the hood of a Honda that needed a new battery.

"To the store. Mia promised us meatball subs today," Vince replied, a wistful look on his face. I couldn't tell if that was because of the food or because of Mia. It seemed like he was looking at her differently ever since she had taken the initiative to keep the store open.

"I'll catch up with you in a minute. I just want to finish this battery replacement," Dom said idly. Part of his retreat into the garage had included a complete avoidance of the store. I guess if you don't see it, you don't have to deal with it.

"Whatever," Letty said, seeing though Dom's dismissal. He would never show up. No sane person would want to change a battery rather than eat lunch. Besides a simple a simple battery change took mere minutes. "I'll bring you back a sandwich."

The trip to the store took us about an hour. It shouldn't have and yet I think that Vince, Letty, and I wanted to balance our existence in limbo with an occasional trip to a place where people were working to move forward. Mia seemed excited to tell us about the first delivery she had received as manager of the café. Mind you it was a case of candy but it still made her feel important. Between her and Daphne, they had managed to do inventory and put in their orders with merchants two days ago. Man Dom would be impressed. I know I was and I took the time to let Mia know it too. Letty remembered to order a sandwich to take back with us to Dom.

It was as Vince, Letty, and I piled into his car that we heard the wail of sirens in the distance. As we made our way back to work, a police cruiser sped past us with its lights flashing. What was going on? I started to get this bad feeling settling over my heart which intensified as we turned the corner and viewed the scene across the street from the garage. EMT's were already moving a man's body onto a stretcher and police officers were bustling around trying to contain the scene and interview witnesses.

Vince pulled his car up to the curb but Letty was already racing to the bay doors of the garage. I'll never know how she knew to go there, but she chose the garage over the crime scene. Vince and I followed each knowing that we would be better off together than standing apart. We didn't have to look far to find what Letty had been seeking. There was the Honda and sitting in front of it, his head resting on his drawn knees, a bloody wrench in his hand, was Dom. Letty knelt beside him, raised his face in her hands, and looked him in the eyes. I never saw a face like that before and I never want to see one like that again. It was young, frightened, lost, and confused.

"I don't know what to do," Dom said in a small voice, "I don't know what to do."

He seemed to sum up what we all were feeling and thinking. None of us knew what to do. I don't know how long we stood there, entranced by the horror that we were faced with but eventually the police came. They stood Dom up, cuffed him. They took the wrench, bagged and tagged as evidence. They even gave him a fair trial. The judge understood that Dom had snapped when he saw Linder standing across the street hedging whether to come in and apologize for his bumper clipping stunt. The judge understood that it had been poetic justice that the racer who nudged another into a wall at 120 miles an hour would get hit with a wrench. But the judge couldn't overlook the fact that Linder had been beaten so badly that he would never have a decent quality of life. Linder had cost Mr. Toretto his life and Dom's penance for taking Linder's livelihood would be two years behind bars. If Linder couldn't race at the tracks anymore, the judge had decided, neither would Dom with a lifetime ban.

In the end, Dom's final act of grief took him to Lompoc, making our world after Mr. T's death finally come crashing down.


	16. Revelations

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Fast and the Furious, its characters or situations.**

* * *

**Chapter 16: Revelations**

I know that my final memories of life altering moments will always haunt me. Some parts, the less horrible parts, are easier to recall than others. How was I to know that these moments in my life would forever play like a warped record in my mind? Sometimes the record would slow down considerably, the sound quality poor but the nuances of the situation in sharp relief. Other times the record would rotate at warp speed, the sound quality tinny and cheap making the memory harder to pin down. And then some moments would play just right. But the right play speed and quality didn't always make the memory easier to stomach.

The first few weeks of Dom's incarceration were recorded in warp speed. Mia didn't cry when they led Dom out of the courtroom after the judge sentenced him. She looked at Dom, cuffed and forlorn, and mouthed 'I love you' as they took him away. Mia told us that she had no tears left to cry.

"Besides, while I have compassion for Linder, justice isn't always fair," Mia had stated matter-of-factly. And to see it from her point, her father had been killed and Linder was allowed to continue on with his life of racing and just living period. No one would punish him harshly for killing a man in an "accident" on the racetrack. However, Dom would serve time for ruining Linder's livelihood for doling out street justice with a torque wrench. Unfair, but it was justification enough for Mia to stand by Dom for his decision.

The question of where Mia would go while Dom was away came up briefly. Letty's family offered to take Mia in which was the most convenient arrangement. She wouldn't be far from her house and she would still be able to get to school and work. It lasted for a week. Mia's newfound strength was able to guard her during the day but it wouldn't protect her from her horrible nightmares. Letty's mom got stressed out at the constant blood curdling screams Mia unwillingly let pierce the night so for the sake of the courts, they quietly decided that Mia "lived" with Letty's family, but Mia really slept at the Toretto's.

"Besides mija," Letty's mom told Mia bracingly, "Letty spends so much time down the street that your house is practically an extension of our house." To prove this point, Letty started sleeping at the Toretto's too. She'd laid claim to Dom's bed which no one questioned.

Meanwhile Vince threw himself into his work at the garage. Vince was determined to keep things flowing as smoothly as possible. He had also taken on the protector role in Dom's absence. When school started, he made sure Mia and Letty went to school and did their homework even if he didn't always show up nor do his. He also made it a point to stop by the convenience store twice a day. During the week he would be there a half hour into Mia opening the shop after school and during the weekend he would go for lunch. However Vince was always there to watch Mia close up shop before taking her home.

"Ya can't be too careful in any neighborhood," he growled out when Mia asked him why he always came when she closed up shop. Whether he was talking more about protecting Mia or the business none of us could really tell. But over time, Mia came to expect Vince there. It made her feel like someone strong was there to catch her if things ever got out of hand.

Daphne stayed true to her word. She helped Mia out at the store most days doing inventory, restocking shelves, and keeping the books. Every other week though she made it a point to tackle the books at the garage. Mostly those afternoons at the garage ended with a lot of cursing and a splitting headache but she still came anyway. I know I was thankful that she stuck it out with us. I definitely did not want to tackle the accounts here. Daphne also started spending more time with Mia at the house too. They did homework together which usually involved suckering Letty into completing hers while they were at it.

Every odd night, Daphne would cook a meal for all of us, giving Mia a break. We'd all started eating dinner at the Toretto's on a regular basis to give our makeshift family some normalcy. After a few weeks we noticed a change in ourselves. While we were all hurting in our own ways over Mr. T's death and Dom's incarceration, we'd managed to carve out an existence for our group. Things seemed to get on a path that we could manage and then the record playing in my mind slowed.

"Come on Vince, it's only a couple of decorations," Mia persisted. It was a week to Halloween and she'd already decorated the house and the store. Thus far Vince had staunchly refused to let her decorate the garage too.

"No Mia it's distracting," Vince replied wearily. He was caught between wanting to give in to shut her up and standing his ground to teach her boundaries.

"Not even one jack-o-lantern?" she pleaded.

"No."

"Come on," she huffed then changed tactics to pouting, "not even one of the small ones that can fit in my hand?"

"Give it a rest Mi," Vince told her, his patience starting to ebb. Mia looked at the rest of us situated in the living room. We were waiting for the commercials to end and some random TV movie to come back on.

"Back me up?" she sounded exasperated. When no one readily stepped in, she huffed and wrapped her arms around herself, her eyes going to the TV screen. The pose screamed her displeasure. For ten minutes, the house was quiet save for the movie which had come back on. As one of the characters was getting ready to do something eternally stupid like walk into a creepy boathouse, the phone rang. Mia jumped about a mile and the rest of us started laughing. Letty picked up the phone still chuckling.

"Hell-oh," Letty drawled out. Suddenly she stopped smiling and her breathing sped up. I stood up, not sure if I should take the phone from her or stand behind her in case she fainted. Vince muted the TV and the rest of the room got still. "Yes." Letty said into the receiver and then she shouted, "DOM!" After almost two months of silence Dom was calling us from prison. Letty had tears in her eyes as she spoke to him in a small voice I didn't know she possessed.

"We miss you man… I miss you…God I miss you Dom… What? Yeah the gang's all here…Wait hold on," she told him before passing the phone to Mia.

"Dom! How are you?... Are you getting enough to eat?...We decorated everything for Halloween… No I did not do the garage…Gosh no one will back me up on that… Yeah I'm cool everyone's been really cool… I can't wait until you get back…Stay safe bro…ok ok…I love you… bye," she relayed to him before passing the phone to Vince. Mia's face was caught between happiness and misery.

"Yo man…Whatever…I am standing firm on that one…You know it…," Vince said before laughing, "Business is good…Everything will keep till you get home…Aigh't holla," he finished before handing the phone to Daphne.

"Hi Dom…You in denial yet?... We could pretend it was like eternal summer camp…You're right that is a worse hell…She's doing well Dom…Yes, Letty too…I will…bye," she ended her time before passing the phone to me.

"Hey Dom," I started.

"Hey Han, what's good? It sounds like everything is ok without me," he said. He was trying to sound upbeat but underneath I could tell that he was hurt that he couldn't be here.

"We're maintaining," I told him. I wanted him to know that we still needed him.

"I'll bet. Are all of you staying at the house?"

"No but we chill here a lot."

"Oh, you can all move in if you want," Dom said eagerly then sighed heavily, "I don't want Mia staying at home by herself."

"She's not, Letty's here," I was quick to reassure him.

"I didn't mean to leave her behind, to leave her alone."

"You haven't."

"Listen, I will write to you guys and try to call again in a couple of months. I just don't want to get into a regular habit…" Dom trailed off. I knew he didn't want to cause more mental anguish by calling attention to the fact that he wasn't here. Plus I knew he was missing us like crazy and he didn't want his depressed mood to taint his conversations with us.

"That's cool."

"Well I have to go," Dom said reluctantly.

"Yeah, be careful man and don't drop…" he cut me off laughing.

"Jerk. Don't go there. Bye."

"Bye Dom."

I hung up and we all sat there stunned. After Dom's long silence none of us had expected him to call. Vince and I had found out when we tried to visit him two weeks into his sentence that he'd refused to make a visit list. None of us could go and see him and he wanted it that way. So to compensate, Vince made sure to send Dom some commissary to remind him that we still cared about what happened to him. After hearing Dom's voice though, I don't think he would call us again in the near future cause it was difficult to pretend that it didn't suck being in jail. Mia yawned which broke the tension.

"After all this excitement, I'm going to bed," she announced. Soon after, Letty followed her. Vince decided to stay over too so I shuffled Daphne out the door and to my car. We rode in a comfortable silence to her house. Instead of immediately leaving the car, she grabbed my face in her hands and turned it towards her.

"Han," she started before shaking her head ruefully, "I have such weird timing."

"That was an unexpected statement," I said playfully, trying to keep things light. I was apprehensive about what she wanted to say.

"Han, I'm trying to be serious here," she sighed with a half smile curling her lips.

"So get serious."

"I love you." I paused with my mouth wide open. I couldn't say it to her yet. I knew that was what I felt but I didn't want to sound trite by saying it right now. It would seem like I said it just because she did. I needed her to know that I meant it. So I did the next best thing and I kissed her like my life depended on it. Daphne's smart. I think she understood, or at least she was kissing me back with equal fervor. I was about to suggest that Daphne come home with me when my cell rang. _What the hell?_ At first I didn't pick up but then as soon as it stopped ringing, the cell started singing all over again. Not even bothering to look at the caller id, I huffed and picked it up.

"Huh," I answered. I hoped whoever this was made it snappy.

"Break time is over," said a familiar voice. Daphne was right, she did have weird timing.

"You need something tonight?" I said incredulously. I was shocked to hear Wallace's voice. It had been close to three months without so much as an erroneous text message from this guy. Daphne looked at me with a puzzled expression marring her face.

"You got an audition. Meet me at K.C.'s garage." He hung up on me. I knew that meant to get over there ASAP.

"Look Daphne, I gotta go." I pecked her on the lips.

"I guess that means your vacation is over huh," she said, grabbing her bag and opening the door.

"Yeah."

Leaning over to give me one final look, Daphne told me sternly, "Please don't blow up any more cars if you can help it." I couldn't help but laugh which made her smile wanly at me before slamming the door.

K.C.'s garage was just as non-descript as it was that first day Dom, Vince, and I had gone to see him about upgrading our cars with nitrous. K.C. however looked worse for the wear. He was still wiry but now he was sporting a brilliant black eye that was swollen shut. It looked very fresh but you wouldn't know it by the jovial look he gave me.

"Oh not you too man," K.C. started, walking over to me to shake hands. I raised an eyebrow in question. "I didn't expect you to get mixed up with a crowd like this."

"Mixed up?"

"Yeah, you know…" he waved his arm around to encompass the surroundings and Wallace who was walking towards us. He had been occupied with a list when I first walked in.

"We all got needs," I said dryly.

"Yeah we all got needs," Wallace parroted. He turned to address K.C., holding a piece of paper out for him to take, "Next time, make sure you satisfy my lists exactly the first time. I don't want to have this discussion again." K.C. nodded then walked away to start on his new list. I knew who had blackened his eye.

"So this audition," I started, leaving the rest open for Wallace to finish.

"I need you to supervise a delivery," Wallace said, walking towards my car. I followed without being asked. Same old Wallace, no pleasantries, just business as usual.

"Take the payment; make sure it's all there before delivering the shipment. Missing a penny, give the money back and don't hand over anything," Wallace told me. I walked past him and got in my car, started it, then rolled down the window so he could hand me a piece of paper.

"Where and how much?" I could get back to business too. Wallace pointed to the piece of paper and I unfolded it. _The Racer's Edge; 50,000_.

"Bring the money to me here and you'll get five g's," he told me. I nodded, prepared to leave but Wallace put his hand on the steering wheel which forced me to look at him. I gave him a raised eyebrow. "You cross me, take that money and run, and I will do every clichéd thing you can think of to you and yours."

I rolled my eyes but really I felt a chill go through my body. I hadn't thought to run with the money but now that Wallace had voiced it, I was even less likely to take it. I wound up the window and drove over to _The Racer's Edge_ with apprehension filling the entire vehicle. Pulling into the back lot, I noticed immediately a small moving van, two burly guys, and Harry. Great, this was getting stickier by the second. I hopped out of the car and the look Harry gave me was a mixture of relief and sickness. I could tell that he was happy I wasn't someone else but it makes him ill to know that I was working for the types of people who make the things that live underneath rocks seem like royalty.

Harry handed over a box to me and one of the burly guys opened the back of the van. For a moment I thought I would need to tell him to wait while I counted the money but then I saw that he was producing a money counting machine for me. Oh good, at least I wasn't expected to count this all by hand. Grateful that something was going right in this strange situation I let the machine work its magic stack by stack. Once I was satisfied that all the money was there, I placed all of it back in the box and put the box in my trunk. This seemed to spur the two men into action. They started unloading parts and moving them into Harry's warehouse. I thought Harry might talk to me but he just supervised the moving of the parts standing by the warehouse doors, leaving me to supervise from my perch on the trunk of my car. In less than an hour, I was back at K.C.'s garage handing Wallace the money. He took the box from me and used the same machine to count the money again. Thankfully I used the machine right because all the money was there. Smiling, Wallace handed me five grand before walking me back to my car.

"Your audition was great. Expect to do this on more permanent basis." I was dismissed. I went home and stared at the ceiling a very long time thinking about what I had just done. Finally I understood why K.C. had been pissed at Harry way back when. Harry must have been K.C.'s way into this situation. I could imagine Harry striking up a "business" deal with K.C. along the lines of sending his customers there whenever they needed work done by a competent mechanic. I bet he even sweetened the deal by letting K.C. in on a way he could make some extra cash under the table. After all, who better to salvage parts from cars of a questionable ownership nature than a mechanic? And then to cap it off, Harry would sell the parts to the same suckers who would go to K.C. for help. I'd be angry too if Harry was asking me for favors after getting me involved with people who would beat me up for getting an order wrong.

The part I was having trouble sorting out was why Fiona was involved in this anyway. It took a couple of minutes but then it dawned on me. Fiona's operation basically oversaw the transportation and supply issues. Fiona through her network could coordinate several garages to filter virtually anything through them, not just car parts. I doubted K.C.'s parts for instance were exclusively for Harry only. I also doubted that my distraction was keeping the police from discovering just a delivery of car parts. I lay awake for a long time in awe of the fact that I had joined an organized crime ring. Or maybe I was in awe that I just realized how deep I was getting in. I went from underling to low-level assistant without even being aware. What was worse was I went from a temp position to steady part-time. I smacked myself on the forehead before turning over and falling into a restless sleep. Time would pass between that first supervising job and the point where the record began to play just right.


	17. Record Repeat

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.**

**A/N: So I suspect that this story has one chapter left to go after this. The plan here is to leave this story in such a place that I can pick up from Dom's point of view in a new one. Thank you to all of the people who read and two thumbs up to those who reviewed.**

* * *

Chapter 17: Record Repeat

The record sped up again. It had been over a year and a half since I did that first job. During that time seasons had changed; Vince, Daphne, and I were high school graduates. Frankly Vince was extremely surprised that he had finished high school considering how much he never went to class. I think his guidance counselor must have threatened his teachers with Vince's impending return to get them to pass him. After all, there is no one else to take him once you reach the twelfth grade.

That June Mia made a big deal out of Vince and I marching across the stage that it was less painful just to shut our mouths and do it. I will never admit it to her, but Vince and I were secretly pleased to have the girls making such a fuss over it. Mia went all out for it to make it worth our while: we had a big barbeque in the Toretto's back yard and invited a gaggle of people. There was enough food for a grand army and drink enough for a ship full of sailors. One of Sam's friends is a DJ and Letty convinced him to spin, so we had plenty of music for dancing. We partied well into the wee hours of the morning. After catching a few hours of sleep, Mia got us all up to help her clean. She even made us breakfast for late lunch when we finished. That's when I asked her where she got the money to supply almost one-hundred and fifty people with what seemed to be limitless food and lubrication. Blushingly she confessed that she had squirreled away some of the money I had been giving her.

That was another thing that had changed around the house too. Since that first job I had started to contribute to taking care of Mia by giving her money for household incidentals after every one of my paychecks. I treated it like a bill since I was at the Toretto's house almost as much as I went to my own house. Moreover I was helping to eat Mia out of house and home anyway so I figured I could contribute to the bills you can't ever escape. The mortgage was paid in full but there was always the electricity, water, sewage, cable and phone. Plus Mia needed to eat and buy household items to clean up and brush her teeth. So she got a grand every time I got paid which ended up being almost four times a month. I knew she didn't need _that_ much money to pay bills but it still made me feel less guilty that I was practically mooching when I spent my time there.

Dom corresponded every once in a while to Mia in these behemoth letters. He would ask a million questions about what was going on and Mia would write him equally long letters to respond to his every inquiry. This usually meant that she would spend a few days conducting site inspections of the house, garage, and store then conducting in-depth interviews with the people Dom asked about. She included pictures to help him chronicle the passage of time. She sent photos from the graduation and the celebration afterward, of Letty who was letting her hair grow past her shoulders, of Vince who was finally mastering his guitar, of me eating chips on the sand instead of joining everyone down by the water's edge at the beach. Dom got pictures of our first family dinner together in January after Daphne finally caved and moved in. We all had migrated into living at the Toretto's house full time. She even sent pictures of Daphne the following March, six months pregnant and laughing at Letty with her hand on her belly, who clearly looked wigged out. I think the baby must have kicked at the exact moment Mia snapped the picture.

Yeah here it was, six months before Dom is slated for release, and I was going to be a dad in three. Mia sent Dom a report on her findings four days ago and we were sitting in the living room deciding on what movie we were going to watch when the phone rang. Vince reached over and answered.

"Yeah," he said, pausing to hear the person on the other side. After a few moments he said, "Yes." Dom had called again. The room got quiet but this time we were excited and relaxed, eager to hear his voice, thankful that he had called.

"Yo man, you had time to read Mia's novel?" Vince started laughing. He laughed so hard that he passed the phone immediately to Mia's outstretched one.

"Hi Dom! How are…What do you mean?" she looked puzzled for the space of a heart beat then the light bulb clicked on, "Oh that…Well _I_ didn't do it…I miss you lots so write me soon…I love you too…bye." Mia's eyes were crinkled in the corners as she passed the phone to Letty.

"Hiya Dom," Letty drawled. Letty was trying to remain cool and aloof but we could see her struggling to contain her ecstatic grin. "Yeah, is that right?..." then she burst out laughing, "Whatever man that's not cool…I'll bet…uh huh…When you get home you better be ready to put your money where your mouth is," she told him before he said something that had her blushing to the roots of her hair, "Bye Dom." Letty was still blushing as she handed the phone to Daphne. Why was I always last?

"Hi, how are…What?...Yes of course it is!...Yeah, thankfully it's not catching…I bet you are…No, we haven't yet but I was thinking something asexual like Jessie or Taylor… We'll definitely keep you posted…Yeah, you too, bye." Daphne grinned and handed the phone to me.

"Dom," I said in my cavalier sort of way.

"Han," he replied. His voice was stronger, deeper than I remembered.

"Hurry up and get to the punch line, I want to laugh too." This made him laugh.

"Ah you got me, are you seriously having a kid man?" He sounded awed, confused, amused, and I detected a faint hint of jealousy.

"Either that or Daph swallowed a Hyundai," we both laughed. Daphne punched my arm.

"Why didn't that news make the last letter?" Dom inquired. Mia had sent him a letter in November which was four months ago.

"_I _didn't even know till December so…" I trailed off letting him figure the rest out.

"Yeah well congrats man. Listen, are you going to throw a party for Letty and Mia when they graduate?" Dom asked.

"That's the plan."

"Ok then. I'll need you to do me a favor but I'll tell you about it later. Can you put Vince back on?" Dom rushed out. I could tell he didn't have much time left.

"Yeah, later Dom," I told him before handing the phone to Vince.

"Yeah what you need brother?" Vince asked him before lapsing into a silence. He nodded his head a few times like he was keeping instructions straight in his mind before saying goodbye and disconnecting the call. We all sat there still for a few moments, letting his call sink in. We truly missed his presence.

"So Jessie or Taylor huh?" I asked Daphne to break the easy tension. She punched my arm again smiling.

* * *

Three weeks later the record began to play at regular speed again. It was the second week in April and the garage was steadily getting busy. Kids were getting their rides ready for summer cruising which was both a blessing and a curse. We could use the business, we always wanted the business, but Letty, Vince, and I were working flat out to keep up with all the jobs. Daphne had no mechanical skills whatsoever so she took to working at the convenience store full time. She enjoyed managing things there, building relationships with the regulars and the suppliers. Plus it freed Mia up to work the books for us more often at the garage. Mia also had the power to change the oil she just preferred not to see the underside of a car. But even with her help on those mundane small jobs we still needed additional hands. It took a tag team effort for Letty and I to convince Vince that we needed to hire some help._ 'Very brief temporary help',_ Vince told us. Someone who would be here to help us catch this rush then could fall back when Dom was about to come home.

That night Vince, Mia, Letty, and I went to check out check out potential hires. There would be no placing an ad in the local paper and hoping the right schmoe would show up for us. We went head hunting for the best candidate among what we knew which was the race scene. What better way to get a look at a sample of the work someone has wrenched in and test their experience without raising suspicion? Besides, I felt it was easier to see someone's character when they weren't putting on a charade to get the job.

Tonight the crowd was meeting up at the some alley between two warehouses in the industrial district. I understood why when we got there. It was secluded, large enough for the crowd, and far enough away from civilization proper that no annoyed neighbors would call about the noise. Sliding into one of the rows lining the sides of the warehouses, we started making our rounds. Six cars down we ran into Hector. Hector was always a well spring of who's who and what's what on this scene lately.

"You know who plans on runnin' tonight?" Vince asked right out of the gate. Vince wanted to check those racers out first since we would get to see them in action tonight. It was all about getting more criteria to base our decision on so Vince could justify it to Dom.

"Johnny Tran got a Honda 2000 he's trying to work the kinks out of," Hector said working his face hard not to crack up. Letty was the first to give in with a short harsh bark of laughter that she quickly covered into a semi-convincing cough. The car was ok for cruising and not much else. Plus I knew the rest of them were thinking like I was: Johnny Tran wouldn't need a job nor would he want to work with us when he could work with his family both extended and mafia. _Next!_ Hector didn't need encouragement to keep going.

"Sam's been working on a GTO. He ran her a couple nights ago and cleaned up so it looks promising." We all nodded. Sam might be worth checking into. We all knew him, Dom liked him mostly. But to be fair, Dom was still hot over Sam "hitting on" Letty the night he claimed her at races. _Prospect, ok next!_

"Edwin is…"

"Please stop. Not again!" Mia exclaimed throwing her hands up. I gave a slight grin and Vince laughed lightly placing a steadying hand on Mia's shoulder. Edwin's driving was passable but he had heart which is what brought him to the line again and again. Sometimes he would win but more often he wouldn't. He was a good mechanic especially when it came to redoing the interior but he wasn't fond of doing the mundane like oil changes. But we all knew him too and we'd seen his performance in shop class. _Another prospect, ok next!_

"And a some-timer named Leon. He keeps popping up around here sporadically in his Skyline. He's been so dormant lately I didn't expect him to want to cut loose tonight." Vince and I gave each other a look of interest. There wasn't an attendance policy at races but the regulars usually showed up eighty percent of the time. That's why Leon with a track record of thirty percent had gotten the moniker some-timer. You would think that he would race every time he showed up but it was normal to see him observing the scene, not participating but "laying dormant" as Hector said. Buzz was that he spent his time racing with several different crowds so he wasn't a steady regular anywhere. Leon was a mystery because he never really engaged in the social aspects of the racing. He'd never been to a party thrown by anyone from this racing set so no one really knew too much about him. Some-timer or regular, the kid did have some credit here: ever since that first race a few years back against Dom, Leon had been seen crossing the line in either second or first. But he never challenged Dom again and neither Vince nor me for that matter.

"He let you under the hood yet?" Letty asked Hector trying to gauge how receptive he would be to let us check out his work.

"Naw, not yet," Hector said shaking his head. Suddenly he saw some other people arrive and started to move towards them. We understood that he needed to meet and greet other racers so we strategically made our way over to Leon and his Skyline, pausing every now and then to greet racers we were chummy with and check out some other potential hires. Finally we made it over to where Leon was perched on his hood, a toothpick hanging slackly from his lips.

"Hey," Mia greeted him, "you're Leon right?" He nodded. Mia rocked back and forth on her heels, clearly uncomfortable striking up a conversation about the more technical aspects of mechanics.

"Nice ride," I drawled looking unaffected. He folded his arms.

"You put in your own wrench time?" Vince asked him.

"Yeah," he replied. His voice was scratchy and deeper than I expected. He looked like he was trying to figure out what we were up to. Score one point for him for noticing that we were not on a social outreach mission.

"Apparently the engines in these are powerful at stock. Did you keep it or upgrade?" Letty asked allowing her curiosity to color her words.

"I didn't tweak the engine, a friend of mine did," he told her, sliding off his car and going to the driver's side door. For a moment he looked like he was going to get in and take off into the night. Instead he popped the hood and Letty took it as her cue to lift it. Man his engine was clean. I was impressed by the not only the work that clearly went into the upgrades but the aesthetics too. The whole thing was tailored in the same way you tailor the interior or the paint job. Functional and artistic, who would have thought? All of us, even Vince, were impressed. We were saved from having to come up with a way to part by Hector's shout for us to roll out. It was time to set up for the race.

Letty and I decided to watch the start of the race while Vince and Mia drove to the end. Two girls ran and created the start line and the racers lined up. Sam looked cocky, Johnny bored, Edwin excited, and Leon intense. It took a minute for Hector to start them off, waiting for the police to be occupied somewhere else in LA. The race lasted less than twelve seconds. Letty looked pissed off when Johnny came back first, followed by Leon, Sam and Edwin. We didn't fraternize with any of the Tran's on a normal basis so it was no surprise that instead of joining the winner's circle we trotted over to pass out an invite to party at the Toretto's tonight. Letty made sure she stopped Leon and gave him a personal invitation, the intent was to get to know the prospects more before making a hiring decision.

Ya know, even without racing we still drew a sizable crowd at our after-race party. About a half hour in, Vince and I had decided that we didn't want to offer the job to Edwin. He was going to be sketchy when it came to anything other than redoing the interior of a car. We needed someone with a wider range of mechanical dependability. I was hoping we would get to talk to Sam but Letty was doing a really good job of keeping him occupied. At the moment those two were working out their dancing skills to the latest Ludacris song, something to do with fantasies. Vince noticed that they were definitely getting comfortable in their dancing because his face seemed to turn stony and he started warming up his muscles to fight. Thankfully Mia noticed because she was at his side in an instant, asking him to go with her to get a drink. As they walked down the hall, Mia looked over her shoulder at me rolling her eyes. Letty was entitled to dance, have fun, and make merry while Dom was gone. I just knew Vince was trying to protect Dom's interests. Maybe hiring Sam would be a bad idea.

"Hey," Daphne said tapping my shoulder. She looked like she just woke up. I gave her a head nod then continued to watch Letty and Sam dance. She followed my line of sight then sighed, "Maybe hiring Sam would be a bad idea." I grinned.

"He's a good mechanic," I said trying to be objective.

Daphne tsked then drawled out, "But he can't keep his hands to himself and Vince is going to pound him on Dom's behalf." I couldn't deny that. Sam was letting his hands slide over Letty's hips which lasted for half a beat before Letty pulled back. They whispered something to each other and then she left him, heading our way.

"Hey, what are you doing up?" Letty asked Daphne.

"I slept while you were gone. Besides it's bedlam in here," Daphne replied, gesturing at the guests, the loud music, and Sam who was grinding with some random girl in the corner. Letty shook her head then angled her head to one side as if contemplating something really irksome.

"You know, maybe hiring Sam would be a…" Letty began.

"Bad idea," Vince finished for her, a Corona in one hand, Mia under his other arm. Letty's eyebrows shot up and her eyes widened.

"What's that supposed to mean," Letty spat back, her hackles raised.

"What?" Vince said in a _tone_ that was both authoritative yet clearly confused, "you were saying it too."

"You know what. You accusing me of somethin'?"

"No. I just think he might not work out too well in the garage."

"What you meant is you think Dom won't want him working in the garage," Mia piped up trying to diffuse the argument.

"Actually Letty probably doesn't want Sam in the garage cause she almost decked him earlier," Daphne said, laughter in her voice. Letty's mouth fell open in shock before she laughed.

"Actually, yeah," Letty admitted, the smile still playing on her lips, "his hands roam more than nomads." Vince looked like he wanted to go over and murder Sam but Mia seemed to be keeping him firmly by her side.

"So who does that leave us with?" Mia asked to deflect attention off of Sam. Vince shrugged. At that moment prospect number three waltzed through the door.

"Hey Leon," I said motioning for him to join our discussion taking place by the stairs. He hesitated for a moment like he was making a decision before joining us.

"Thanks for the invite," he addressed Letty.

"You want something to drink?" Mia asked politely trying to put him at ease.

"Nah, thanks though. I'm going to leave in a minute," Leon said, clearly looking uncomfortable and ready to roll out.

"So, is it only your friend who knows things about engines?" Vince asked, taking a long swig of his beer.

"No. But he's the expert so…" Leon trailed off.

"Where do you do your work?" Mia asked to keep him talking.

"At my apartment…listen, I really should get going."

"What's the rush?" I asked slowly.

"Maybe he has work tomorrow," Mia said trying to clean up the fact that I was bordering on being rude. Hey, I was curious why the kid wanted to bail so quickly.

"I've got someone waiting on me that's all," Leon said, backing away from us slowly.

"Yo, why don't you stop by DT's tomorrow," Vince told him casually. "We could use your type of help at the garage."

"And bring your engine friend too," Letty tacked on.

"That is, if you're interested in a job," Daphne added. Leon stopped, stunned at our offer.

"Uh, sure. Tomorrow." And with that, he was gone.

The next morning Leon showed up, a scrawny looking kid following in his wake. I was impressed the kid showed. Leon seemed less ill at ease then he had been the previous night. Vince made his approach which seemed to make the scrawny kid get jittery.

"Who's this," Vince asked, pointing with a wrench at the jittery kid.

"This is Jesse, a mechanical genius," Leon answered with pride. Jesse looked at the ground. I took my time and really gave him a good hard look. Jesse did not give off the air of being a mechanical anything. He looked too young to be out of high school, his mousy brown short hair cut and inability to keep still screamed childlike.

"You designed his engine?" Vince said, clearly as thrown by Jesse's appearance as I was. Letty looked up from her project to stare at them.

"Yah," Jesse said quickly, a hint of Boston in his voice. "It was clean huh," he continued, pride lacing his voice. Letty huffed.

"So is everyone going to stand around or can the mechanical genius give me a hand with the Acura?" Score one for Letty. Let's see what his skills were like under the hood. Jesse ran over to her, eager as a puppy to please. He dived under the hood and the two of them spent the rest of the day toiling together over the Acura for another wannabe racer. Meanwhile Vince and I put Leon to work helping us turn out the routine jobs.

By the end of the following week, Vince and I had decided to make Jesse our special projects man. He was terribly scatter brained, losing his focus within a few minutes if the topic wasn't car related, but engines calmed him down. He could easily spend the whole day under the hood of a car without a break if you let him as we discovered on his second day in the garage. Leon turned out to be an asset to the garage as well. He was even keeled and knew his way around cars, particularly imports. He was also tight lipped about his past but Mia figured that it was because he didn't know us well enough. That was fair, I certainly didn't know either of them well enough to let them in on my part-time job.

The second Sunday of Leon and Jesse's employment Mia decided to have barbequeat the house to give us social time to get to know them better. Vince and Leon were together manning the grill while Mia was cooking away in the kitchen. Letty had decided that she would entertain Jesse with PlayStation racing which he seemed to be able to focus on as easily as cars in the garage. I was upstairs with Daphne, helping her get dressed.

"You could have picked a top that buttoned in the front," I told her dryly. She wanted help getting into this complicated orange top that tied in the back.

"Then you wouldn't have an excuse to fondle me," Daphne cheeked back. "Gosh I feel fat."

"Hey, no one told you to get knocked up," I said laughing. She hit my shoulder.

"Jerk." I leaned over to give her a kiss when my phone went off. She sighed deeply as I answered.

"Yo."

"Han, meet me at K.C.'s," Wallace said before hanging up. He sounded angry which immediately made me nervous. Daphne picked up on it.

"Who was that?"

"I gotta go," I told her, grabbing my keys and wallet. She placed a hand over mine. She looked worried.

"Don't." The single word gave me pause. I had a bad feeling and I could tell she did too. I bent over to quickly peck her lips instead she slid her arms around my neck, using my position to raise herself from the bed. I kissed her, she held on tighter.

"Daphne, I have to go." I was getting impatient to leave, her distress was creeping me out.

"I'm going too." You know that feeling that comes over you, the kind where your skin is crawling and you know something bad is going to happen? I got that at that moment. The feeling upset me so badly that I yelled at her.

"No." I pushed my way past her, stomped down the stairs and made to slam the front door when I found it being jerked out of my hands.

"I am going with you. I will wait in the car or whatever, but I don't want you to go alone."

"What do you think you can do if something goes down? Have a baby on them?" I knew I was being cruel, but I needed her to stay behind, to realize that she was being irrational. My comment made her pause which gave me time to get down to my car. As I was starting it, she opened the passenger side door and slumped in. My fury exploded.

"Get out now Daphne!"

"No!" she yelled back, crying. We stared at each other for a long moment then I pulled away from the curb, causing her to grab for the seatbelt. I made my way towards K.C.'s garage, knowing that I would never take her there and at the same time thinking of a place to take her that would be safe.

"Why are you doing this Daphne? I thought you understood what I was up to?" I was angry and confused. She'd agreed that day I told them about my work that she would never follow me and here she was standing in the way. I took a second to glance at her. She looked miserable.

"I don't know."

"I can't take you with me," I scolded. She seemed to shrink into herself but didn't say anything. I pulled up to a coffee shop a few blocks away from K.C.'s garage. Daphne grabbed the handle still sobbing. "Wait here. I will come back for you."

I saw her standing on the curb in my rearviewmirror as I pulled off. I gave her a final glance before turning the corner and speeding the last few blocks to K.C.'s. Immediately upon pulling in I noticed that something was extremely wrong. The bay doors were wide open, bullet holes riddled the walls. I was torn between getting out seeing if anyone was there and fearing that whoever I found would be either dead or ready to make my body into Swiss cheese. I pulled back onto the main road, deciding that it would be better to leave the scene and regroup when my cell rang.

"Yo."

"We're blown. Disappear," Wallace said before disconnecting. I knew in that moment that whatever had caught up with this operation had nothing to do with cops. I also knew that I would never hear from Wallace, Fiona, or any of that crew again if I was interpreting _disappear_ right. Anxious to get away as quickly as possible, I skidded to a stop in front of the coffee shop. Daphne was still on the corner so was able to get in the car without delay. We sped off.

"I think I need to take an extended vacation," I started, my mind racing. I didn't know who or what I was running from but I couldn't go to the police or trust anyone. I was driving on autopilot back to the Toretto's house. Daphne wasn't crying anymore but she seemed worn out.

"What do you mean?" she asked me. I don't know what possessed me but I opened the window and let the cell phone meet the pavement, its crash occurring nowhere near the car as I was speeding along to put distance between me and the crime scene. I didn't want to keep any connection between me and Fiona's crew. The cell phone and its call log would be a dead giveaway. I knew that Daphne was smart. She had picked up on the fact that I hadn't included her in my plan to skip town.

"You'll be safe with Vince, Letty, and Mia. I…"

"Right, pregnant chick will slow you down," Daphne said humorlessly. I reached over to grab her hand but she pulled back from me.

"Daphne," I began but she cut me off.

"Don't." I tried a different tact.

"In the glove compartment, there's tons of cash for you and the baby."

"Don't substitute money for yourself Han, I want…" BAM! I was so into what was going on in the car that I had failed to notice if we were being followed. The impact of the SUV against my vehicle was jarring. I fought for control thinking that maybe this had been an accident, but the second hit confirmed my suspicions. I decided to try to out maneuver the driver, taking the next corner with some speed but my back tires were out of alignment. We skidded around, barely missing the approaching traffic. I could hear Daphne next to me, breathing heavy and crying again, but she didn't scream. She knew I needed to concentrate. There would be time for panic later. I accelerated through the traffic intending to make another right. I didn't want to lead whoever was chasing us to the house. I had hoped to lose the SUV but it came at us full speed right as I was skidding around the corner, striking the passenger side of the car and causing us to careen into a wall of cars lining the street. Before I could register that I hurt like hell, the SUV took off into the night. I turned to check on Daphne.

"Daph," I croaked out. The seatbelt was digging into my flesh, the air bags slowly deflating from around our faces. She didn't answer. "Daph," I tried again, this time the name sounded like a prayer. I forced myself to take off my seatbelt, adrenaline pumping through me. Why wouldn't she answer? I turned my head to look at her but she was slumped in the passenger's seat, her body unnaturally still.

"Daph?...Daphne?" I called over and over again. Finally I could hear sirens wailing in the background. I groped for her hand, holding the limp appendage in between both of mine. I kept calling her name knowing all the while that she would never answer me. In what seemed like hours the ambulance and police cars arrived finally tuning off their sirens, which is what I wanted all along. Didn't they know I couldn't hear Daphne over all that wailing? I didn't let go until the emergency crew pried me out of the car, still calling out for the piece of my heart that had slipped away from me in that wreck. I lay in the ambulance, the EMTs patching up my superficial wounds: scratches on my arms and neck, a rash on my face from airbag impact, a deep cut on my left leg that might need a few stitches. The only thing they wouldn't fix was the gaping space in my heart that forced me to keep repeating Daphne's name like a terribly scratched record.


	18. Epilogue Where Life and Art Intertwine

**Disclaimer: I don't own any Fast and the Furious movie, character, situation, ect.**

**A/N: And so the end my friends. Thank you for reading, reviewing, and sticking with me till the end.**

* * *

Chapter 18: Epilogue Where Life and Art Intertwine

I found it. It took some digging and a lot of work but I found it and brought it here. Some might think what I'm doing is morbid. Earl thought so when I first mentioned the idea. But I had to have it. And here it was, the crushed frame clearly telling a tragic story. And yet I was standing amongst this twisted metal, determined for the phoenix to rise from the ashes.

Takashi scoffed at me, at the idea of the intense amount of work. "Why are you restoring this hunk of junk? Why not get something new?" he asked me, his accent heavy since English clearly was not his first language.

But Takashi didn't understand. None of them really could. This wasn't about restoring some random car; it was about healing my past. I had to close the hole in my heart. This was about making sense of the past through a labor of closure. And so I worked. It took months to get it right. I wanted to use as much of the original vehicle as possible. The welder who straightened out the frame thought I was crazy but when you pay the price, anything can get done. What was returned to me wasn't perfect, I hadn't wanted nor expected perfection, but it was passable as looking new. By this time Earl quit calling me crazy. Instead he just shook his head then went back to reading the latest _Import Tuner._

I started the work on the engine and the interior in my spare time, the routine was cathartic until I hit a major speed bump. The funny think about earning quick money is that you miss it when it's gone. So there I was with the last of my money ready to sink it all into completing the transmission and electrical work when I got offered a job managing property for Takashi's uncle. They needed an extra person to help collect debts on the Yakuza's turf and Takashi, good friend that he is, recommended that he and I work together. There I was standing amongst the constant reminder of the consequences of the last time I engaged in work of a questionable legal nature contemplating a jumpstart back in. I thought about it a whole thirty seconds before accepting. The money was tight and I wasn't content to take my time to make it. Besides, the perks of the job weren't bad. The hours were short, the pay more than fair, and I even got an Evo. Vince couldn't stop laughing when I called LA to tell them that, clearly remembering what happened the last time I was allowed to drive a "company" car. "Just try not to blow this one up," he told me, laughter coursing through his words. It made me grin.

At long last it was time to paint. And now I know how Leonardo DaVinci must have felt when he had blank canvas. He cranked out a masterpiece just by keeping it simple. He'd painted a woman. I painted my car for her. It was the same "fast ass blue with a white stripe" that she's always known, but I added the orange just for her. I'd decided that those colors together weren't as offensive as I originally thought. It turned out to be simple but effective. It also had the added advantage of making my car easy to pick out of a crowd.

Once the car was done I decided that my self-imposed isolation from the racing scene here would end too. I was thankful that first night to find my car toward the end of the night. The racing scene here was twice almost three times as large as LA. Then again, the population here is crazy compared to LA too so it's all relative. Given the space constraints in this area and the desire for racers to drift, the ideal place for us to race are multi-level parking garages. The advantage to this is that we can usually party and have a ball for as long as we want without police disturbance. The reduction of the fear of being caught definitely added a layer of activity to these events. There's lots more tuning, lots more sitting around, and plenty of dancing which I rarely saw at a race in LA.

This new guy Twinky has been hanging around lately. He's sort of this "traveling merchant" selling anything recognizing most items, most people, have a price. To me he is a living reminder that no ride is free. Twinky has a penchant for peddling information which our set has slowly started to consider the gospel. For example, he's made me into sort of this legend by talking up my car which I have refused to do. No one knows why this car is special to me beyond the massive restoration. Twinky found out about the fact that I crashed it back in the states so he started referring to the car as Mona.

"Why Mona?" I asked one night at races as we rode the elevator to the top floor of the parking garage.

"Mona," he stated as if I should pick up on the reference right away. When I raised an eyebrow at him, he looked at me in disbelief, gave a short bark of laughter then said, "You know, like "Mona Lisa"? Check it; you got a masterpiece right there." So thanks to Twinky I had a label for my master work, my "Mona Lisa". But I can't take full credit. It might be my finest work but its Daphne one hundred percent.

I may have returned to the racing scene but I don't race Mona. That doesn't mean I don't drive her. I will cruise around town or drift quietly down the surrounding mountainside when I need to think. According to the gospel of Twink, everyone knows I'd been in a car crash in this same car days before I came to Japan, that my team in the states helped me build her the first time. But I knew that no one knew about my girlfriend and our child. Takashi knew I'd escaped to Japan like the cowboys that ran to Mexico. When he's reminded of it, he'll laugh at me and remark that for an Asian, this probably _is_my Mexico. Smart ass. I started spending more time collecting debts and chilling with some of Takashi's friends. One of the guys Morimoto makes it a point to talk in Japanese whenever I am around just to remind me that I am not from here. At least all this forced immersion was helping me learn the language but I still only speak Japanese when it's absolutely necessary.

I have this reputation bordering between player and promiscuity. Part of it is fueled by my desire to never get too close to another woman hence the revolving door of women sashaying in and out of my room. Twinky's obsession with storytelling has also added nitrous to the fire. Thanks to him I have been rumored to get around three times more than I truly do. It took a while but I finally started dating this model named Kitayna. She has long brown hair and a sexy lush full mouth. She also has a quick wit and great intuition. She's my main squeeze as much as she can be considering I have been circulating through the native and non-native female population of Tokyo.

Kitayna and I spend more time together than I do with any other women. I always make sure to save time for her when she is in town because she is both entertaining and intuitive. She knows when I want sex and when I just want her to leave me alone. I know I can invite her to spend the night at my place and she'll curl up on the opposite side of the bed to let me sleep when I'm not in the mood. Sometimes I need the illusion of the ladies man that she provides without the pressure to perform. Some nights I want to wallow in my past and Kitanya provides a safe haven to do so. No one bothers me if they think I am cloistered away with my companion of the evening getting into carnal acts.

The upside to my relationship with Kitayna is that Takashi finally felt comfortable enough to introduce me to his girlfriend Neela. I understand why he spends time with the younger girl, she's hot. Her exotic features and Australian accent makes guys want to compete for her attention and yet she is really modest about the attention she gets. After hanging with her a couple times the two of us started to realize that we both shared feelings of loss and loneliness. Neela never told me the full details but apparently her Mom's past was affecting present, forcing Neela to live on the good grace of Takashi's uncle. It's one thing to be wanted, another thing to be owned. It made her uncomfortable to know that Takashi felt he owned her in a way, that she was his excusive property. What she needed I was lamenting the loss of: a companion who respects who you are and loves you for being yourself. Our friendship grew to this mutual understanding that she could come to me and I would do my best to help her, even if that meant it required me to step in and talk to Takashi on her behalf. It's never come to a head yet, but I have a feeling that if the right guy comes along, I will have to make good on our agreement.

Six months after fixing Mona I started to get the restless urge to race. I refused to subject Mona to the rigors of racing for money so I started to search for a new car. One afternoon I was lying around thinking about whether I should just import some American muscle car and strip it down for a complete retool when Dom called.

"Hey," he started off not even giving me a chance to say hello. I glanced at the time. If it was seven o'clock in the evening here the seventeen hour difference meant it was two in the morning there. He sounded too giddy for two am.

"Dom, are you wasted?"

"Naw, nothing like that," he replied still sounding giddy. He held the silence long enough to put me on edge before he spoke again. "I have a rep now."

"What?" I said quizzically. Dom always had a reputation but this seemed really strange. He had been a confident, enviable racer in high school. He had even bordered on cocky more than once. He'd even had a rep as a shameless trollop who would have anything that paraded past him in heels or a skirt. Apparently this was larger than that.

"It's official. I am King of the Streets." I could hear him smiling through the phone. I knew he must be somewhere private because he would never show anyone who wasn't family his unadulterated goofy grin.

"Huh," I said. I knew that my lack of enthusiasm would rankle.

"What do you mean, huh?" Dom said affronted. Once I started laughing Dom caught on and his mood elevated again. "Jerk."

"Well how did you manage that?"

"Well last week some punk shows up and starts going on about how he's the best in San Fran and that he's come out to race me and see if the _"rumors about King Toretto are true"_ and all this crap and I just beat the breaks off his ass," Dom rushed out, clearly enjoying this story.

"Oh is that all," I drawled.

"Yeah," he said wistfully, "but I think it really crushed him because he brought like twenty racers with him and they played him out afterwards. Anyway, some of the San Fran scene showed up this week and our scene deferred to me."

"Deferred? You mean you held the money?" I was being obtuse on purpose.

"Naw, I got to decide if people were _worthy_ enough to race with me." We laughed. That was a big accomplishment.

"So what does the team have to say about it?" I knew that this new status upgrade had probably made Dom insufferable.

"Well…" he started and then I heard a door slam and Dom expel a breath as he was pushed down onto what I was assuming was his bed. "Han…"

"Han, Dom owes me a very long massage," Letty said silkily into the phone before disconnecting. It felt good to know that some things stayed the same even though I missed them.

So I got the grand idea to get a RX-7 since I knew Dom was rolling around in one now and do it up with VeilSide to give it a unique look. That way I could still feel like part of the team even though we were separated by an ocean. I painted this car completely orange before I decided to add black to break up the monotony. I was hyped to race it even letting Twinky set it up my initial race. However as I rounded the final corner in the race in front of my opponent I knew my heart wasn't truly in it. So that's when I retired myself from racing for money. If I was going to do anything that looked like racing it would have to be for something bigger: respect, honor, the pursuit of womanly attention. To symbolize my return to retirement, I started taking Mona to the races again.

So that's where I am now, sitting on the hood of Mona, casually eating my munchies, observing the scene Takashi lords over as D.K.. I still haven't found anyone I trust to take care of my snacks when I race anyway so this is all for the best. Twinky showed up with some new kid in that ridiculous Hulk mobile. Always wanting to stay on top of things I gave the kid a cursory glance, noticing his whole demeanor screamed outsider immediately. I hope Twinky doesn't bring the kid over here or Morimoto will get fuel for his attitude early. I really think Morimoto carries an elitist attitude when it comes to being Japanese which is starting to grate my nerves. Two girls walk past in barely there skirts and Morimoto reaches out for one, smacking her hard, grabbing her behind. I continue to look bored but start getting antsy to see Neela. She might break up the monotony of the night.

Suddenly her car pulls up and she pops out, her first order of business Earl. I'll have to ask her about the new mods she must have put in. Earl is the guy she goes to immediately when there is an issue with her ride. They exchange terse words then she turns to walk towards our group but the new guy is in the way. _What the hell?_Before I can even figure out if he knows who he is messing with Takashi takes notice and goes to defend his turf. I can tell from my perch that things are getting ready to escalate so I mosey as quickly as possible to the argument, able to catch the tail end of their squabble. So Takashi and this guy want to race? This kid has balls considering he doesn't have a ride. My curiosity is peaked. The kid reminds me of Leon: he's not going to walk away from a challenge and finishing last is not going to sit well with him. I expect that's what's making me offer up the keys to Mona. I want to see if I am right. Well really I want to see if Takashi will get put down a peg. The kid doesn't look like he drifts but then again; people have been known to surprise me.

Twinky looks at me like I need to sign myself into a psych ward, shaking his head before following this new guy to Mona. Takashi looks pissed, Neela fed up. _What? I wanted to see what the kid had in him? _It takes a few moments but the crowd gets ready, clearly waiting to see how badly Takashi is going to hand it to the newbie. The race starts, they reach the first turn, and the kid smashes Mona into the wall. Inside I am rolling my eyes but I don't let it show as we head for the elevators. As the door closes on me, I slowly continue to eat my snack but my thoughts move back to Daphne. I know she is laughing at me right now, at the fact that I can't seem to keep cars and destruction far apart from each other. Well at least it wasn't the Evo.


End file.
